Groups, piecewise linear representations, and linear 2-representations. This project aims to address fundamental questions at the interface of two central areas of modern mathematics, geometric group theory and higher representation theory. Higher representation theory is a relatively new field, but its tools have already had a tremendous impact on mathematics. The project is expected to use these tools to address outstanding questions in geometric group theory. The expected outcomes of this pr ....Groups, piecewise linear representations, and linear 2-representations. This project aims to address fundamental questions at the interface of two central areas of modern mathematics, geometric group theory and higher representation theory. Higher representation theory is a relatively new field, but its tools have already had a tremendous impact on mathematics. The project is expected to use these tools to address outstanding questions in geometric group theory. The expected outcomes of this project include resolutions of open problems in the theory of Artin groups and the creation of a new subject, the dynamical theory of two-linear groups.Read moreRead less
Representations of arithmetic groups and their associated zeta functions. This project aims to investigate deep connections between number theory and group theory by studying linear actions of arithmetic groups. Arithmetic groups are used in geometry, dynamics, number theory and other areas of pure mathematics. This project will study their representations from two perspectives. First, it will establish properties of the associated zeta functions to resolve open problems about the asymptotic beh ....Representations of arithmetic groups and their associated zeta functions. This project aims to investigate deep connections between number theory and group theory by studying linear actions of arithmetic groups. Arithmetic groups are used in geometry, dynamics, number theory and other areas of pure mathematics. This project will study their representations from two perspectives. First, it will establish properties of the associated zeta functions to resolve open problems about the asymptotic behaviour of the dimensions of the irreducible representations. Second, it will explore the evolution of representations across families of groups under new induction and restriction functors, in analogy with creation and annihilation operators in physics. The project will enhance Australia's capacity in representation theory and group theory, the mathematics that underline symmetry in nature.Read moreRead less
Control and learning for enhancing capabilities of quantum sensors. This project aims to develop new theories and algorithms to enhance capabilities in engineering quantum sensors from the perspective of systems and control. The project is significant because it is anticipated to advance key knowledge and provide systematic methods to enable achievement of high-precision sensing for wide applications, e.g., early disease detection, medical research, discovery of ore deposits and groundwater moni ....Control and learning for enhancing capabilities of quantum sensors. This project aims to develop new theories and algorithms to enhance capabilities in engineering quantum sensors from the perspective of systems and control. The project is significant because it is anticipated to advance key knowledge and provide systematic methods to enable achievement of high-precision sensing for wide applications, e.g., early disease detection, medical research, discovery of ore deposits and groundwater monitoring. The intended outcomes are fundamental theories, effective control and learning algorithms for achieving highly-sensitive sensors. These outcomes should make important contributions to and deliver new knowledge and skills for Australia's sensing industries, which could benefit Australia's economic growth.Read moreRead less
Feasibility in politics: Taking account of groups and institutions. This project aims to research feasibility in politics. Normative political discourse is pervaded by the use of claims about what is feasible and infeasible. The project will examine feasibility practices, the functions they serve, what is required to serve the functions effectively, how actual practices stack up, and how to improve them. It will fuse philosophical and empirical analysis; encompass three salient case studies (imm ....Feasibility in politics: Taking account of groups and institutions. This project aims to research feasibility in politics. Normative political discourse is pervaded by the use of claims about what is feasible and infeasible. The project will examine feasibility practices, the functions they serve, what is required to serve the functions effectively, how actual practices stack up, and how to improve them. It will fuse philosophical and empirical analysis; encompass three salient case studies (immigration, poverty and climate change); and engage practitioners, commentators and ordinary citizens. The project intends to inform the development of just and effective immigration, poverty and climate change policy, reflecting a better understanding of the role of feasibility in politics.Read moreRead less
Future fables: literature, evolution and artificial intelligence. The future of AI is a site of considerable philosophical and cultural anxiety in the West. Given the future of AI is currently only available to publics through literary or fictional tropes, it is vital that we investigate the historical evolution of these literary or fictional tropes of AI to understand its future direction. This project aims to understand (1) how the post-Darwinian literary imagination has shaped our current anx ....Future fables: literature, evolution and artificial intelligence. The future of AI is a site of considerable philosophical and cultural anxiety in the West. Given the future of AI is currently only available to publics through literary or fictional tropes, it is vital that we investigate the historical evolution of these literary or fictional tropes of AI to understand its future direction. This project aims to understand (1) how the post-Darwinian literary imagination has shaped our current anxieties about AI and (2) how literary and scientific writers after Darwin rethink the future of the human species by imagining the co-evolution of humans, animals and machines. Expected outcomes of the project include conceptual resources to understand the human-nonhuman relation and the future of AI.Read moreRead less
Automatic Authorities: Charting a Course for Legitimate AI. Public and private actors are increasingly using Artificial Intelligence (AI) to exercise power over citizens, who are increasingly unsure whether to accept that power. AI faces a crisis of legitimacy. This project aims to use technically- and empirically-grounded philosophy to make Australia a global leader in the study and design of legitimate AI. The project expects to launch and make fundamental progress in a new field: the Politica ....Automatic Authorities: Charting a Course for Legitimate AI. Public and private actors are increasingly using Artificial Intelligence (AI) to exercise power over citizens, who are increasingly unsure whether to accept that power. AI faces a crisis of legitimacy. This project aims to use technically- and empirically-grounded philosophy to make Australia a global leader in the study and design of legitimate AI. The project expects to launch and make fundamental progress in a new field: the Political Philosophy of AI. Expected outcomes include new strategies shared with industry and government partners for designing and deploying legitimate AI systems. Expected benefits include the opportunity to enjoy the public and private efficiencies enabled by AI, without compromising our freedom and equality.Read moreRead less
Regularisation methods of inverse problems: theory and computation. This project aims to investigate regularisation methods for inverse problems which are ill-posed in the sense that their solutions depend discontinuously on the data. When only noisy data is available, regularisation methods define stable approximate solutions by replacing the original inverse problem with a family of well-posed neighbouring problems monitored by a so-called regularisation parameter. The project expects to devel ....Regularisation methods of inverse problems: theory and computation. This project aims to investigate regularisation methods for inverse problems which are ill-posed in the sense that their solutions depend discontinuously on the data. When only noisy data is available, regularisation methods define stable approximate solutions by replacing the original inverse problem with a family of well-posed neighbouring problems monitored by a so-called regularisation parameter. The project expects to develop purely data-driven rules to choose the regularisation parameter and show how they work in theory, and in practice. It will also develop convex framework, acceleration strategies as well as preconditioning and splitting ideas to design efficient regularisation solvers.Read moreRead less
Data sharing with strong privacy against inference attacks. This project aims to develop theories and techniques for strong protection of personal information in sharing large datasets such as national health data or census records. It intends to achieve this through developing new information theoretic methods for synthesising datasets with proven high fidelity and protection against re-identification and inference attacks, where attackers try to learn probability of sensitive data. The expecte ....Data sharing with strong privacy against inference attacks. This project aims to develop theories and techniques for strong protection of personal information in sharing large datasets such as national health data or census records. It intends to achieve this through developing new information theoretic methods for synthesising datasets with proven high fidelity and protection against re-identification and inference attacks, where attackers try to learn probability of sensitive data. The expected outcomes are algorithms for public and private sector data curators to dial up or down their data access arrangements based on privacy risks and fidelity demands linked with different data types and uses. This project intends to enable Australians to securely benefit from valuable data in decision making.Read moreRead less
Strengthening political representation in an era of democratic change. This project aims to understand and strengthen how politicians represent their constituents. As trust in politics declines, there is more pressure on politicians to engage with citizens. Understanding how these demands are reshaping the representative work of politicians is crucial to building trust and legitimacy in modern democracies. By interviewing and observing Australian politicians, this research will build important k ....Strengthening political representation in an era of democratic change. This project aims to understand and strengthen how politicians represent their constituents. As trust in politics declines, there is more pressure on politicians to engage with citizens. Understanding how these demands are reshaping the representative work of politicians is crucial to building trust and legitimacy in modern democracies. By interviewing and observing Australian politicians, this research will build important knowledge about the dynamics, demands and practices of contemporary representation. A national and international audit of novel ways to engage constituents will lead to valuable resources that politicians and citizens can use to assess and improve representative relationships, enabling stronger democratic institutions.
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Research to enhance measurement, understanding, and policy regulatory approaches to emerging markets and trade in mothers' milk. Innovation affecting human milk supply challenges current regulation of infant food, but new markets in human milk assist the economic valuation of breastfeeding. Mothers are finding new ways to share their milk, and milk banking and human milk-based products are emerging as alternatives to commercial infant formula. This project builds on previous world-leading Austra ....Research to enhance measurement, understanding, and policy regulatory approaches to emerging markets and trade in mothers' milk. Innovation affecting human milk supply challenges current regulation of infant food, but new markets in human milk assist the economic valuation of breastfeeding. Mothers are finding new ways to share their milk, and milk banking and human milk-based products are emerging as alternatives to commercial infant formula. This project builds on previous world-leading Australian research into the economics of breastfeeding. It aims to increase understanding of markets in milk for infants and inform regulation of milk markets and milk exchange. It will investigate key features of these markets, how milk is priced, and how to access data on market prices which might improve the social and economic valuation of breastfeeding.Read moreRead less