Chinese Academy of Sciences SIAM Student Chapter Demonstrates Continued Endurance With 14th Annual Meeting

This past June, the Chinese Academy of Sciences (CAS) SIAM Student Chapter hosted its 14th Annual Meeting at the CAS Academy of Mathematics and Systems Science (AMSS). Support for the event was generously provided by SIAM, AMSS, the State Key Laboratory of Scientific and Engineering Computing, and the Institute of Computational Mathematics and Scientific/Engineering Computing. Graduate students, early-career researchers, and professional scholars came together for a day of presentations, learning, and networking; attendees hailed from a variety of institutions, including AMSS, Tsinghua University, Xiangtan University, Beihang University, and even the University of California, San Diego (UCSD).

This year’s annual meeting featured four distinguished speakers from AMSS, Tsinghua University, and UCSD. Their in-depth lectures showcased recent breakthroughs in their respective research areas and underscored the conference’s strong academic orientation. While the talks were presented by faculty members, each session sparked active student engagement. Participants asked thoughtful questions, shared their own perspectives, and exchanged ideas with the speakers and one another.

The meeting began with introductory remarks by Xin Liu of AMSS and a brief photo session. The academic program then commenced with a lecture by Jiawang Nie of UCSD, an acclaimed expert in polynomial optimization and recipient of the 2018 SIAM Activity Group on Linear Algebra Best Paper Prize. Nie’s presentation introduced a polynomial optimization framework for the computation of Nash equilibria via moment and sum-of-squares relaxations. The talk provided both theoretical guarantees and practical examples, offering new insights into the algebraic structure of game theory.

Zuoqiang Shi of Tsinghua University next spoke about “Surface Reconstruction Based on Modified Gauss Formula.” Using techniques from potential theory and numerical integration, Shi proposed efficient methods to reconstruct continuous surfaces from discrete point clouds. He effectively illustrated these concepts with vivid visual examples that demonstrated the practical applications and results of his approach.

After a short coffee break, Chao Ding of AMSS delivered a lecture on “Adaptive Regularized Newton-CG for Nonconvex Optimization” that addressed the longstanding tradeoff between global complexity and local convergence in nonconvex optimization. His proposed adaptive algorithm integrates conjugate gradient methods with negative curvature monitoring, thus achieving optimal global complexity \((O(\epsilon^{-3/2}))\) while enabling quadratic local convergence.

Jizu Huang of AMSS concluded the program with his talk on “Derivatives of Tree Tensor Networks and Their Applications in Runge-Kutta Methods.” By deriving high-order derivatives of tree tensor networks, Huang’s framework offers rigorous order conditions for Runge-Kutta schemes and revealed scenarios in which standard methods can achieve higher-order convergence.

The CAS SIAM Student Chapter was established in 2011 through the initiative of then-SIAM President Lloyd Nick Trefethen of the University of Oxford, with support from CAS faculty advisor Ya-xiang Yuan. In subsequent years, the chapter has grown to include more than 200 members across various disciplines.

The success of this year’s conference further reinforced the chapter’s role in building an active and engaged research community. The CAS SIAM Student Chapter is grateful to all speakers and attendees for their participation in the 14th Annual Meeting and looks forward to hosting more events that continue to foster collaboration across institutions and throughout generations of mathematical scientists.