Summer Research Experiences in
Noncommutative Geometry for
Undergraduate Students
Department of Mathematics
Vanderbilt University,
Summer
Research Experiences are available for several undergraduate students during
the summer of 2006 with the research group in Noncommutative Geometry and
Operator Algebras in the Department of Mathematics at Vanderbilt University.
Each
student will receive a stipend of $400 per week for four to eight weeks. Living
arrangements are the responsibility of the student.
Students
will work one-on-one with a faculty member in the group. After a short tutorial
on background material, the faculty member will suggest original problems for
the student to research. Possible topics include the geometry of metric spaces,
quantum information theory and quantum computing, noncommutative geometry by
examples, the geometry of infinite trees at infinity, and elementary K-theory.
Past
projects by undergraduate students working with this research group have
included “The ends of metric spaces,” “Metric spaces and phylogenetics,”
“The mapping cylinder and Gromov-Hausdorff space” and
“Geometric operations on infinite rooted classical trees and the group of
symmetries at infinity.”
This
program is for mathematically talented students who will be undergraduates as
of the fall 2006 semester. They must be U.S. citizens or permanent residents.
Participants are expected to have completed at least two proof-oriented courses
in abstract algebra, number theory, analysis or topology. The program is for
students with an interest in exploring what it means to do graduate-level
research work in mathematics and in pursuing a Ph.D. degree in mathematics.
Participation in this program could possibly lead to a senior thesis for
Vanderbilt students majoring in mathematics.
For
further details, including information about the application process, contact
Professor Bruce Hughes via email at bruce.hughes@vanderbilt.edu.
This
program is made possible through a Research Training Group grant from the
National Science Foundation to the research group in Noncommutative Geometry
and Operator Algebras in the Department of Mathematics at Vanderbilt
University. Professors Dietmar Bisch, Alain Connes, Bruce Hughes, Gennadi Kasparov and Guoliang Yu are the principal
investigators for the grant.
For
information about the Noncommutative Geometry and Operator Algebras group, go
to http://math.vanderbilt.edu/~ncgoa.