Undergraduate Mathematics Seminar
Vanderbilt University
Introduction
The Vanderbilt University Undergraduate Seminar in Mathematics is designed to show the undergraduate community at Vanderbilt some fascinating and exciting sides of mathematics. During the course of each semester, we'll feature talks by graduate students and professors on a variety of topics in mathematics, from set theory and abstract algebra to analysis and applied mathematics. Each talk will be interesting and accessible to undergraduates, whether they're math majors or not.
Our goal is to show students the beauty and power of mathematical ideas they might not see in their regular coursework. Our hope is that those same students will develop a better idea of, and a keener interest in, what mathematics is and what mathematics can do.
For more information, e-mail mathnpizza "at" gmail "dot" com.
Read the Vanderbilt Register Story about the Undergraduate Seminar in Mathematics.
The talks for Fall 2011 will begin in September. Any date without a speaker listed is still available for a volunteer to present on that day. Please contact us at the email address listed if you are interested in giving a talk.
The talks will be from 7:00-8:00 PM, Tuesday evenings in Stevenson Center 1206.
NEWS FLASH: We are extremely pleased to announce that we will have funding this semester! Come join us and eat some delicious pizza!
September 27: Michael Hull
Title: Tic-Tac-Toe, Topology, and the game SET!
Abstract: It does not take too long to figure out the game tic-tac -toe, but how would this game change if you played on the surface of a cylinder? What about other surfaces, such as a torus? We will see what happens in these cases, as well as what happens when we consider playing the game in higher dimensions. We will then consider game SET, which is a card game based on pattern recognition. We will discuss the rules of this game, and see how finding a winning combination of cards in SET corresponds to winning a game of tic-tac-toe on a 4-dimensional torus.
October 4: Stacy Hoehn Fonstad
Title: Smooth Rides on Square Wheels
Abstract: The circular wheels on a typical bike roll smoothly on a flat road, but what would happen if you replaced the wheels on your bike with square wheels? Square wheels obviously won't roll smoothly on a flat surface, but somewhat surprisingly, you can get a bike with square wheels to ride smoothly on a road with some other shape. A little bit of geometry and some calculus are all that it takes to design the road necessary for a smooth ride on square (and other polygonal) wheels.October 11: Emily Marshall
Title: Problem Solving Using Graphs
October 18: Justin Fitzpatrick
Title: Mighty Morphin' Power Series
Abstract: You might know that e^{i*pi} = -1, but do you know where this classic formula comes from? You might know that the infinite sum of 1/n^2 converges, but do you know what it converges to? In this talk we introduce power series not only to answer these questions but also several other questions that are much more easily solved using power series than by the standard techniques taught to first- and second-semester calculus students.
October 25: Nick Boatman
Title: That's Unbelievable!
Abstract: Sometimes, it's possible to extract surprising conclusions out of almost no information. In other cases, we can reach conclusions that completely fly in the face of our intuition. In this talk, we'll examine a few such problems.
November 1: Alex Wires
Title: The Oldest Unsolved Math Problem I Know
Abstract: Ancient records from the Mediterranean to the Fertile Crescent to the Indus Valley to the Wei Valley show the birth of numbers is intimately tied up with the birth of commerce and religious cosmology. From the Greek tradition which marries the study of numbers with philosophical principles, I would like to talk about what I believe to be the oldest open problem.
November 8: Matt Smedberg
Title: Early and Often: How voting systems affect democracy and math affects voting systems
Abstract: To most Americans, voting is an infrequent, simple civic activity: you learn a little about the candidates, choose the one you like the most (or dislike the least!), mark a paper or electronic ballot, and move on with your life. Few of us reflect on how the electoral system might shape our public institutions, and still fewer on how the electoral system might be different, and how such changes could affect the power and workings of public institutions. We will discuss a few such ideas during this talk, including why the U.S. has a two-party system while other nations have several parties, and Arrow's Theorem stating (informally) that there is no perfect electoral system.
November 15: Corey Jones
Title: To Infinity and Beyond!
Abstract: Math is not really about numbers and equations, its about ideas! The language mathematicians use to describe their ideas is the language of set theory. We will discuss the basic notions of sets, and how they help us "see" things that we can't see with our limited human senses, things like infinity itself!
PAST TALKS:
Spring 2011
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2006 Spring Schedule
2005 Fall Schedule
2005 Spring Schedule
2004 Fall Schedule
2003 Spring Schedule
2002 Spring Schedule
2001 Fall Schedule
2001 Spring Schedule
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