Mailing List: https://forms.gle/f4XdQH874yM9CkFo7
When: Tuesday 2:30 - 3:30 pm
Where: Vincent 207
Organizers: Sam (coyle158 AT umn.edu), Amin (shari179 AT umn.edu), Tel (fahre062 AT umn.edu)
The Undergraduate Math Research Seminar (UMRS) is a seminar aimed to create a welcoming undergraduate research community at UMN. We will have opportunities for students to give low stakes talks on the research and reading they’ve done as well as hold sessions devoted to learning what research is like, the different areas of math research and how to create research presentations. If you’d like to be updated on the seminar, see the mailing list above. See here for the 2024-2025 schedule.
Sep 16: First Meeting
Sep 23: Samuel Coyle "Finite Spaces and Finite Cobordism Theory"
Abstract: At first glance, finite topological spaces may appear too simple to be of significant interest; however, they can encode a substantial amount of topological information. In this talk, we will first define finite spaces and see some of this rich topological knowledge encoded by looking at the difference between simple homotopy equivalences and weak homotopy equivalences with respect to Whitehead torsion. From here, we will take a brief digression to look at smooth manifolds and a surprising relation between Whitehead torsion and cobordism theory. Motivated by the case in the smooth manifold setting, we will be able to develop an appropriate setting to discuss cobordism in finite spaces. Time permitting, we will conclude with some recent results and open conjectures concerning finite cobordism, specifically focusing on the gap between simple homotopy equivalences and weak homotopy equivalences.
No prerequisite knowledge will be assumed.
Sept 30: Board Games and Social Hour
Join us for some fun and games with people who are also interested in Math!
Oct 7: Tel Fahrendholz "Dynamical Systems and The Lorenz Attractor"
The Lorenz Attractor is one of the most iconic examples of chaos in mathematics and science. This talk will begin with an introduction to dynamical systems, with a focus on the tools used to classify behavior in 2D systems. We will then see how these tools fail to describe the 3D Lorenz equations, and walk through some of the same steps Edward Lorenz himself followed as he explored their surprising outcomes. The journey will culminate in the emergence of a new concept made possible by the addition of an extra dimension: deterministic chaos.
Oct 14: Serena Hall
Oct 28: TBD
Nov 4: Nathan Elango
Nov 11: TBD
Nov 18: TBD
Nov 25: TBD
Dec 2: TBD
Dec 9: TBD