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All the sessions below are free and open to the public, but we do take donations!
Recreational Math Seminar
Our main event, open to all levels. Presenters and topics vary from week to week.
Location: Brownson Hall BR-218, Manhattanville University
Time: Tuesdays 6-7:30 pm
Feb 4
Title: Sums of quadratic polynomials
Speaker: Dr. Gautam Chinta,
Abstract: The solutions to a quadratic equation are intimately related to the discriminant of the polynomial. I will describe a remarkable
property of sums of a collection of quadratic polynomials with a fixed discriminant. The elementary questions that arise quickly lead to
unsolved problems in number theory. This talk should be accessible to anyone who knows the quadratic formula.
Bio: Dr. Chinta is a Professor of Mathematics at CUNY. He received his PhD in Mathematics from Columbia University and his undergraduate degree from Yale.
Feb 11
Title: Words, groups, and a dash of topology
Speaker: Dr. Matt Cushman
Abstract: A "word" over an alphabet of letters is simply what you get when you string a bunch of those letters together. For example, if the alphabet is {a,b}, then a, b, ab, and ba are all distinct words. This feels very discrete, combinatorial, and algebraic. What do substructues of this look like, for example, "the words of even length"? We will discuss this and related questions, which, surprisingly questions of continuity (topology) and infinity become important tools and considerations.
Bio: Matt is a regular contributor to the Westchester Area Mathematics Circle. He holds a PhD in Mathematics from the University of Chicago and undergraduate and masters degrees from Carnegie Mellon in Mathematics and Philosophy. He has applied mathematics to problems in technology and finance throughout his career, launching an electronic trading firm, Etale, and prior to that running quantitative teams at Citadel and Knight.
Feb 25
Title: The Cryptography Behind Crypto
Speaker: Dr Lisa Yin
Abstract: What is Bitcoin? How do you "mine" one? And how does it stay secure without a central authority? The answer lies in cryptography! This talk explores the mathematical tools that power Bitcoin—hash functions, digital signatures, and proof-of-work. Join us to uncover the magic behind Bitcoin and other digital gold!
Bio: Lisa Yin received her PhD in applied mathematics from MIT. Specialized in the field of cryptography and information security, Lisa has made major contributions in analyzing and breaking ciphers that are widely used in practice. Lisa is also passionate about sharing her love for mathematics with young mathletes. As a former parent coach for a middle school math team, she led the team to win the MATHCOUNTS state championship in Connecticut for three consecutive years.
Mar 4
Title: The Busy Beaver Problem
Speaker: Erik Brodsky
Abstract: In 1962, Hungarian mathematician Tibor Radó published a short paper introducing what he called the "Busy Beaver" sequence. Despite its cute name, this sequence is a ferocious mathematical beast: the exact value of the fifth busy beaver number was only proved last year!
In this seminar, we will discuss what the Busy Beaver sequence is, what makes it so complicated, and how it relates to the boundaries of achievable mathematics. And, along the way, we will get a really good answer to the following question: if given a pen, a piece of paper, and ten seconds to write anything, what is the largest finite number you can express?
Mar 11
Title: A Slice of Pi
Speaker: Dr. Henry Ricardo
Abstract: In anticipation of Pi Day 2025 (March 14), I offer a ‘slice’ of pi—a gallimaufry of information, a farrago of facts and fancy about this ubiquitous constant, an olio of awesome
revelations. Every attendee should find something new in this presentation.
Bio: Dr. Ricardo has been involved in the world of higher mathematics for almost 60 years, in both the academic field and in industry (IBM). He has graded AP Calculus exams for the College Board and has written two college textbooks. From 2008 to 2011 he served as Governor of the Metropolitan NY Section of the Mathematical Association of America. He retired from the City University of New York as Professor of Mathematics in 2009. He has been affiliated with the Westchester Area Math Circle since 2017, giving talks and conducting sessions on various topics for students participating in math competitions.
Mar 18
Title: Noisy Channels, Strings, and Graphs
Speaker: Dr. Rik Sengupta
Abstract: Imagine being given a 10,000-piece jigsaw puzzle of the cover of the Beatles’ White Album, which is famously almost entirely white. What’s worse, instead of solving it directly, you are only allowed to take a few pieces randomly out of the box, examine them, and then put them back into the box. How long would it take you to fully reconstruct the White Album cover, assembling your information piece by piece? In this presentation, I’ll set up the problem mathematically, give some insights into solving it, and connect it to important computational problems from today, such as mapping the internet, understanding the power of random coin flips, and identifying evolutionary patterns to discover common ancestors of seemingly unrelated species.
Bio: Rik Sengupta is a Research Scientist at IBM, based out of Cambridge. He has an undergraduate degree in mathematics from Princeton University, a master's degree in applied mathematics from MIT, and a PhD in theoretical computer science from UMass Amherst. When he is not working, he enjoys puzzles and board games.
Mar 25
Title: Coding theory and error detection
Speaker: Dr. Brooke Feigon
Abstract: On the back of most books is a 10-digit or 13-digit International Standard Book Number (ISBN) that uniquely identifies the book. Is 0-378-90040-3 a valid ISBN? What about 0-387-90040-3? Or 0-377-90040-3? In coding theory, we want to encode information in a way that can detect and ideally even correct errors in the message. We will explore this topic, starting with the example of the ISBN code.
Bio: Dr Feigon is a Professor of Mathematics at CUNY. She received her PhD in Mathematics from UCLA.
Apr 1
Title: On the Spacing Between Successive Prime Numbers and Writing Natural Numbers as the Sum of Squares
Speaker: Dr Jon Lenchner, IBM T.J. Watson Research Center
Abstract: In this talk I will discuss two famous topics in number theory: (i) the spacing between successive prime numbers and (ii) under what conditions you can write a natural number as the sum of two non-negative integers. I will show that there are arbitrarily large gaps between successive primes, yet also explain that there are intervals where you are sure to find a prime. We will then look closely at arithmetic mod a prime and use that to determine what primes can be written as the sum of two squares.
Bio: Dr. Jon Lenchner is a Senior Technical Staff Member at the IBM T.J. Watson Research Center in Yorktown Heights, NY. Previously he was the Chief Scientist of the IBM Research Africa labs in Kenya and South Africa. He has developed robots to help with data center energy efficiency and for greeting visitors at the IBM lab. He has also worked on highly instrumented, smart spaces and smart conference rooms, including a highly instrumented "war room" to help the professional basketball team, the Toronto Raptors, with trades and draft picks.
Apr 8
Title: Explorations in percolation
Speaker: Dr Ivan Corwin
Abstract: How does water find its way through sand, or stone? How do ideas or diseases spread? How does iron become magnetized? All of these questions are related to understanding probabilistic percolation models on graphs. We will explore some of these models and the remarkable scaling phenomena they display.
Bio: Ivan Corwin is a professor of mathematics at Columbia University, focusing on probability and mathematical physics. He did his Ph.D. at the Courant Institute, NYU.
Introductory Problem Solving Workshop
Presented by: Joyce Gong and Aaron Cushman
New to math competitions and problem solving? Join our free relaxed problem solving workshop based on AMC 8 and MATHCOUNTS material. Suitable for middle school students. Enjoy pizza after the end of the class.
Location: Brownson Hall BR-218, Manhattanville University
Time: Tuesdays, 5-5:50 pm
Feb 4 - 2025 AMC 8 Review
Feb 11 - Systems of equations
(winter break)
Feb 25 - Quadratics
Mar 4 - Similarity
Mar 11 - 3D geometry
Mar 18 -
Mar 25
Apr 1
Apr 8
Intermediate Problem Solving Workshop
Presented by Chinmayi Goyal and Chen Lei,
Interested in improving your AMC 10/12 score? Join us for a free topic-based workshop covering algebra, geometry, combinatorics, and number theory. Our spring workshop will concentrate on AMC 10/12 level problems.
Zoom: https://us06web.zoom.us/j/87914723806?pwd=dHBkNDNWOHBpdmdkT2xLbFBWTDZJUT09
Thursdays, 6-6:50 PM, Online
Feb 27: AIME 2025 Review
Mar 6: Quadratics, Polynomials, Vieta’s
Mar 13: Algebraic Manipulations and Factorizations I
Mar 20: No workshop
Mar 27: Probability & Combinatorics I
Apr 3: Probability & Combinatorics II
Apr 10: Number Theory: Factors, Divisors, and Bases
Apr 17: No workshop ( Spring break)
Apr 24: Number Theory: Diophantine Equations, Modular Arithmetic
Advanced Problem Solving Workshop
Presented by: Jai Paradkar, Ethan Shi, and Henry Xue
Comfortable with the majority of AMC 10/12 problems? Interested in team competitions? Come and train with us for more advanced team contests. We will use past GiM, CMIMC, Purple Comet, and ARML problems
Location: Brownson Hall BR-101, Manhattanville University
Time: Sundays, 3:00-4:30 pm
Feb 2 GiM
Feb 9 GiM
Feb 16 GiM
Feb 23 CMIMC
Mar 2 CMIMC
Mar 9 CMIMC
Mar 16 Purple Comet
Mar 23 Purple Comet
Mar 30 Purple Comet
Apr 6 (no workshop) - GAIM competition
Apr 13 Purple Comet
Apr 20 Purple Comet
Apr 27 (no workshop) - Purple Comet Competition
May 4 - ARML
May 11 - ARML
May 18 - ARML
May 25 - (no workshop) - Memorial Weekend
May 31 - ARML
Math Contests
Math Contests
Upcoming competitions:
EMCC (middle school)
Jan 25, 2025 at Exeter, NH
1 team selected and registered
AMC 8
Jan 26, 2025, 1:30-2:30 pm
make up (in case of bad weather): Jan 28, 2025, 6-7 pm
Manhattanville University, Purchase, NY
Registration is closed
Girls in Math (girls and non-binary students only)
Feb 22, 2025 at Yale, CT
2 teams selected
CMIMC
Mar 15, 2025 at Carnegie Mellon University, PA
team selected
BrUMO
Apr 4, 2025 at Brown University, RI
team selected
Girls' Adventures in Math (girls and non-binary students only, grades 3-5)
Apr 6, 2025, 1:30-2:45 pm
Manhattanville University, Purchase, NY
1 team selected
Girls' Adventures in Math (girls and non-binary students only, grades 6-8)
Apr 6, 2025, 3-4:30 pm
Manhattanville University, Purchase, NY
2 teams selected
Purple Comet (middle school)
Apr 27, 2025, 1:30-2:45 pm
Manhattanville University, Purchase, NY
registration not open yet
Purple Comet (high school)
Apr 27, 2025, 3-4:30 pm
Manhattanville University, Purchase, NY
registration not open yet
LMT Spring (middle school)
TBD (likely May), Lexington High School, MA
registration not open yet
ARML (Westchester students only)
TBD (likely early June) at St. Anselm College, Manchaster, NH
registration not open yet
Other Contests?
If you think there are other contests we should be hosting or sending teams to, please let us know.
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