Speaker: Xiao Shen, University of Utah.

Title: Random growth models and the KPZ Universality Class.

Abstract: Many two-dimensional random growth models, including first-passage and last-passage percolation, are conjectured to fall within the Kardar–Parisi–Zhang (KPZ) universality class under mild assumptions on the underlying noise. In recent years, researchers have focused on a subset of exactly solvable models, where these conjectures can be rigorously verified. This talk discusses a specific line of research that focuses on advancing the understanding of both exactly solvable and non-solvable KPZ models using general probabilistic methods, such as percolation and coupling.