Browsing by FAS Department "Applied Mathematics"
Now showing items 1-20 of 79
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A Fork's Impact: The Reach of Mission-Driven Fine Dining
(2020-12-03)This thesis reviews the efforts of mission-driven fine dining restaurants to encourage the need for shifts in our food system and food culture. Through both an analysis of their dishes as well as proposing the use of a ... -
A Game Theoretic Approach to the Israeli-Palestinian Conflict
(2019-10-25)Today, the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, now over a century old, remains as destructive and intractable as ever. To gain a deeper understanding of the dynamics which perpetuate the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, I apply the ... -
A Quantitative Analysis of Reproductive Rights and Right to Life Advocacy Organization Mission Statements
(2019-10-25)The debate between pro-choice and pro-life advocates has raged on for decades. Despite significant political and legislative action in the recent past, abortion remains one of America’s most divisive and partisan issues. ... -
Addressing Missing Data in Viral Genetic Linkage Analysis Through Multiple Imputation and Subsampling-Based Likelihood Optimization
(2015-06-26)This thesis addresses the intersection of two important areas in epidemiology and statistics: genetic linkage analysis and missing data methods, respectively. Genetic linkage analysis is a promising method in viral ... -
Administrative Assistance and the Labor Integration of Migrant Roma Informal Settlement Residents: Results From the MOUS Program in Grenoble
(2019-10-25)In 2012, the city government of Grenoble commissioned an administrative assistance program that specialized in the labor integration of Roma informal settlement residents through partnerships with social workers. The ... -
An Agent-Based Numerical Approach to Lenski's Long Term Experiment
(2019-10-25)In this thesis, we introduce and discuss two models of bacterial evolution within the framework of Lenski's experiment, which studies the evolution of bacterial colonies in a fixed environment over many generations. In the ... -
An Analysis of Formation Disruption in Soccer
(2020-06-17)Modern soccer tactics are largely designed with the objective of maintaining control of space on the pitch. In order to maximize their command of space, a team will deploy their players in a specific arrangement known as ... -
An Analysis of the Economic Forces Driving Partial Exits in Private Equity Transactions
(2020-06-17)Private capital markets are rich with information asymmetries, including agency problems between General Partners (GPs) and entrepreneurs and between GPs and their respective Limited Partners (LPs). As such, this study ... -
An Outlier in Zipf’s World? A Case Study of China’s City Size and Urban Growth
(2020-06-17)This paper examines the population distribution and urban growth patterns of Chinese cities, motivated by two stylized facts – Zipf’s law and Gibrat’s law for cities. Our findings suggest that China deviates from both laws ... -
Applied Linear Algebra and Big Data Course Book
(2019-10-25)This project involves the development of course notes for Harvard’s Applied Mathematics 120: Applied Linear Algebra and Big Data. The course notes span eight chapters, beginning with a review of foundational concepts in ... -
Asset Managers and Financial Instability: Evidence of Run Behavior and Run Incentives in Corporate Bond Funds
(2015-06-26)Asset managers may be a source of systemic risk due to their risk-taking strategies and vulnerability to dramatic outflows. Investor withdrawals trigger asset sales and redemption costs that only impact remaining investors ... -
Big Data and Disease: Using Twitter to Model the 2014 Outbreak of Chikungunya Fever in Puerto Rico
(2015-06-26)Big data has enabled an entirely new approach to solving and understanding problems. With the popularity of social media, data is created by individuals. We believe that embedded in the big data of social media, like ... -
Can Losing Mean Winning in the NFL? Quantifying the Influence of Deviations in Past NFL Standings on the Present
(2020-06-17)Although plenty of research has studied competitiveness and re-distribution in professional sports leagues from a correlational perspective, the literature fails to provide evidence arguing causal mecha- nisms. This thesis ... -
Causal Inference in Matching Markets
(2019-10-25)We consider causal inference in two-sided matching markets, particularly in a school choice context, where the researcher is interested in understanding the treatment effect of schools on students. We characterize two ... -
Characterizing the Dynamics of Movement in \textit{Drosophila Melanogaster} and Humans With Autistic Spectrum Disorder
(2020-06-17)In this thesis, I seek to understand the dynamics and geometry behind two forms of movement by formulating a generative model that encapsulates key features of the movement. The first form of movement involves optogenetically ... -
Constrained Bayesian Neural Networks
(2019-10-25)Neural networks are central to many of the recent empirical breakthroughs in machine learning, but their inability to model the uncertainty of predictions makes them inadequate for safety-critical domains. Bayesian neural ... -
Constraining Adversity: Linear Optimization Methods for Regional Climate Risk Mitigation Using Solar Geoengineering
(2020-06-17)Solar geoengineering presents a powerful set of tools for global climate alteration, with the potential ability to reduce the negative impacts of anthropogenic climate change. While a growing body of geoengineering literature ... -
Counting TB Cases in Kids: Mechanistic Modeling to Quantify the Underreporting of Pediatric Tuberculosis
(2020-06-17)Tuberculosis (TB) represents one of the major issues of global health, causing millions of deaths each year. Although countries are required to notify the World Health Organization (WHO) of all TB cases, many of them go ... -
Deep Detection: Statistical Modeling and Deep Learning to Predict and Address Malaria and Anemia in Madagascar
(2020-06-17)In Madagascar, malaria and anemia are significant public health challenges. Despite global control efforts, malaria prevalence in Madagascar remains high (estimated at 7% nationally, but approaching 30% regionally) and has ... -
The Destabilizing Effects of ETFs and Options on Underlying Stock Returns
(2015-06-26)This paper explores the role that ETFs and options have on the underlying stock return. Using a dataset of 400 stocks over a five year period, I examine the effect that ETF rebalancing and option hedging have on stock ...