PEIRE – A Model for the Transfer of Information and Decision Making
Dawn Lott, Delaware State University
Christine Darden Lecture

Thursday, August 7
MAA MathFest 2025

Abstract: Investigating transfer of information between entities can play an instrumental role in understanding the decision-making process. The decision-making process can be assisted greatly when humans employ computational models that can leverage new information systems. We seek to leverage models of biological processes in an ongoing work on transfer of information system.   In this work, we introduce the PEIRE model for the transfer of information. Here, information refers to heterogeneous message types and processing informative messages is treated like the spread of a virus. This model is an adaptation of the SEIR (Susceptible-Exposed-Infectious-Removed) mathematical algorithm. The model treats compartments as various stages of the processing of information. This approach allows us to determine how the breakdown of information might affect the decision-making process and how the decision-making process might then affect the transformation of information in a system. We also discuss the applicability of the model in artificial reasoning related to decision-making.

Biography: Dr. Dawn A. Lott is a full professor of Applied Mathematics at Delaware State University, Dover, DE in the Division of Physics, Engineering, Mathematics and Computer Science. Dr. Lott earned a Ph.D. in Engineering Sciences and Applied Mathematics from Northwestern University in 1994. Her research area includes but is not limited to the numerical solutions of partial differential equations that model fluid and solid mechanics. Dr. Lott has received the Faculty Excellence Award in Advising and the Faculty Excellence Award in Service from DSU. She is a 2021 Fellow of the Association for Women in Mathematics (FAWM) and a 2019 honoree of Mathematically, Gifted and Black, by the Network of Minorities in Mathematical Sciences. She has served as the Vice President of the National Association of Mathematicians (2005-2013) and on the Board of Directors of the Mathematical Association of America (2010-2013). Dr. Lott has served on numerous committees for the Association for Women in Mathematics, the Mathematical Association of America, the Society for Industrial and Applied Mathematics, the National Alliance for Doctoral Studies, and Enhancing Diversity through Graduate Education. Internationally, Dr. Lott is on the Board of Directors for the INTERNATIONAL INSTITUTE OF ENGINEERING, SCIENCE, ARTS AND TECHNOLOGY (INIESAT), Biyem-assi Ecole, Yaounde, Cameroon. She held the position of Visiting Assistant Professor at the Changchun University of Science and Technology in Changchun, China in 2016. In addition to university commitments, Dr. Lott now conducts research on decision making as a contractor of the Army Research Laboratory in Command and Control.