Physics Colloquium: Gautam Nallamala (NTT Research)

January 23, 2023 - 3:30pm to 4:30pm

Towards a physics of learning and decision-making

Advances in machine learning and the ability to track animal movements for long periods of time have opened the possibility for precise quantification of behavior and the development of new theory. In this talk, I will present an attempt at developing one such framework, rooted in control theory and reinforcement learning. I will touch on three examples (1) thermal soaring, (2) odor trail tracking and (3) navigation in mazes, where theory explains phenomenology and provides new insights into how complex behaviors emerge from the interaction between simple learning rules, task structure and the physics of the environment.

Location and Address

Hybrid
Wean Hall 7316 (CMU Campus)
Department members, see email for remote access. Non-department members, contact paugrad@pitt.edu for access or join the Physics & Astronomy Events Newsletter.