Dodgers Win the 2024 World Series!!!!

The Dodgers have won the 2024 World Series!

Today was the 5th game of the series. The 5-run deficit that the Dodgers overcame is the largest comeback to win a clinching game in World Series history. Walker Buehler came into the 9th inning to get the save two innings after he started game 3. (Gerrit Cole of the Yankees threw more than 100 pitches today. He's the first pitcher to do that in the World Series in either 21 or 27 World Series games. The broadcasters indicated the number in the 6th inning, but I forgot which one it is.) Here is the game's box score.

Obviously, Freddie Freeman was named the series MVP.

Mookie Betts is now the only active player with 3 World Series rings.

I was very happy when the Dodgers won in 2020, but that season has a giant asterisk, and I have been able to enjoy things much more with this year's World Series championship in a proper season.

Thankfully, now that the World Series is over, I won't have to see any more of these damn political commercials anymore this year. Sweet relief.

"Using Mathematics to Study how People Influence Each Other’s Opinions"

Our article for teenagers and preteens about mathematical modeling of opinion dynamics has just been published in final form. Here are some details.

Title: Using Mathematics to Study how People Influence Each Other’s Opinions

Authors: Grace J. Li, Jiajie (Jerry) Luo, Kaiyan Peng, and Mason A. Porter

Abstract: People sometimes change their opinions when they discuss things with each other. Researchers can use mathematics to study opinion changes in simplifications of real-life situations. These simplified scenarios, which are examples of mathematical models, help researchers explore how people influence each other through their social interactions. In today’s digital world, these models can help us learn how to promote the spread of accurate information and reduce the spread of inaccurate information. In this article, we discuss a simple mathematical model of opinion changes that arise from social interactions. We briefly describe what opinion models can tell us and how researchers try to make them more realistic.

RIP Fernando Valenzuela (1960–2024)

Dodger great Fernando Valenzuela died today. I knew that he was really sick and he seemed to be in trouble, but of course I was hoping that he would pull through. Fernando is one of those players that will always be synonymous with the Dodgers, and I was very pleased when the Dodgers finally officially (and belatedly) retired his uniform number in 2023.

You can read more about Fernando Valenzuela on Wikipedia page.

Update: Here is ESPN's article about Valenzuela's death.

Update (10/24/24): I'll add a bit more detail.

For baseball in Los Angeles, Fernando Valenzuela is a legend.

Among other things, he changed the entire fan base of the Dodger organization. He is an absolutely pivotal figure in the history of the Dodgers.

On the performance side, he of course had an incredible beginning and an amazing peak. He started the All Star Game as a rookie, and he's the only player to win the Rookie of the Year and Cy Young Award in the same year. He's also the last MLB player with 20+ complete games in one season.

Update (10/26/24): Here is an obituary article by Jay Jaffe.

What Happens in Atlanta Stays in Atlanta (2024 Edition)

I am heading to Atlanta for the first time since DragonCon 2013. I will be attending the 2024 SIAM Conference on Mathematics of Data Science (MDS), and it even takes place in one of the Dragon*Con hotels. :)

The Dodgers are Going to the World Series!!!

The Dodgers beat the Mets in the 6th game of the National League Championship Series (NLCS), and we're now off to the World Series to face the Yankees!

This is the 12th time that Dodgers and the Yankees (our traditional rivals) are facing each other in the World Series, though it's the first time since 1981.

The Dodgers scored a record number (46) of runs for an NLCS (and the second-highest total for any league championship series), and — I think, if I understood the broadcast correctly — Shohei Ohtani reached base a record number of times for a postseason series.

The NLCS most valuable player (MVP) is Tommy Edman.

Dodgers Advance to the National League Championship Series!

After being on the brink of elimination, the Dodgers beat the Padres 2–0 to advance to the National League Championship Series!!!! We were down 2 games to 1, and we won the next two games to get past the Padres.

There was one home run from Kiké Hernández, and then later there was one home run from Teoscar Hernández. Therefore, it was also Hernández 2, Padres 0.

We'll be facing the Mets in a rematch of the 1988 NLCS.

What Happens in Boston Stays in Boston

I'm on my way to Boston for the workshop to celebrate David Campbell's 80th birthday! It will surely be chaotic. :)

2024 Nobel Prize in Physics Awarded for Applications of Statistical Physics to Machine Learning!

The 2024 Nobel Prize in Physics has been awarded to physicist John Hopfield and computer scientist Geoffrey Hinton.

The official prize citation is "for foundational discoveries and inventions that enable machine learning with artificial neural networks". However, I strongly prefer the phrasing along the lines of "for the statistical-physics basis of neural networks", which is how mathematical physicist Barry Simon described it.

Here is the information, press release, and other materials from The Nobel Foundation.

Naturally, I am strongly in favor of more Nobel Prizes being awarded for foundational interdisciplinary work, as that is the world in which I live. Unsurprisingly, many traditional physicists are arguing against and doing their common practice of staking territorial claim (as we also often see on the job market and in other arenas). This is an old battle, and we can look forward to a later phase when somebody gets a physics Nobel Prize for work in networks. That said, I am grateful to see people arguing about science, rather than about other ideological things!