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@gmail.com.
Read the Vanderbilt Register story about the Undergraduate Seminar in Mathematics!
Fall 2006 Schedule
The talks for Fall 2006 will begin on September 26. Any date without a speaker listed is still available for a volunteer to present on that day.
The talks will usually be from 7:00-8:00 PM, Tuesday evenings in Stevenson Center 1206.
FREE PIZZA will be provided!
Speaker: Justin Fitzpatrick
Getting on a game show is a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity, so you had better go prepared! In this talk, we will prepare you specifically to play correctly on the wildly popular game shows "Deal or No Deal" and "The Price is Right." We introduce the concept of expected value, a concept that is extremely integral to determining correct strategy for many games, and then apply it and other game-theoretic concepts to these two game shows. You will learn when to deal, when not to deal, when to spin again, and when to let the next person spin! And, since there is no substitute for experience, we will allow four lucky students to COME ON DOWN and compete for prizes!!
Speaker: Adam Dailey-McIlrath
A reclusive and eccentric Russian mathematician has solved one of the most important problems in Mathematics. He appears to be in line for a $1,000,000 prize, but is someone trying to hustle him? In this talk I will tell you more about this intriguing person and his million dollar drama, the problem he solved, and why hot chicken helped him solve it.
Speaker: Alex Popkin
The Reverend Charles Lutwidge Dodgson, better known as Lewis Carroll, was one of the most popular children's authors of all times. He was also a great mathematician who made many important contributions in the field of symbolic logic. Carroll wrote extensively on mathematical games and puzzles. He also included some of the same ideas in his famous novels and poems. In this talk we'll explore Carroll's mathematical ideas through examples taken from different writings.
Speaker: Matt Calef
Can complicated things in the real world be broken down into simple things? If the answer is yes, what tools are available to us, and how good a tool is mathematics? Do complicated mathematical systems provide a good model for complexity in the real world? In this talk we shall explore several examples of complexity in mathematical models and consider how mathematics may succeed or fail as a predictive and descriptive tool for the real world.
Speaker: Fumiko Futamura
Mathematics has always been lumped with the sciences. But can mathematics be considered an art? Certainly there have been many intersections of math and art throughout history. Renaissance perspective inspired Desargues, one of the founders of projective geometry. Felix Klein's mathematical models inspired great artists like Barbara Hepworth, Henry Moore, and Man Ray. As an artist turned mathematician, I will try to show you not only the intersections but some parallels I've noticed in the learning processes and creative processes of math and art.
Speaker: Carl Cowen, Professor & School of Science Dean, Indiana University-Purdue University Indianapolis, President, Mathematical Association of America
The commutative property of addition is so familiar to all of us as school children that it comes as a shock to those studying college level mathematics that NOT all 'natural extensions' of the law are true! One of the first instances that we see the failure of an extended commutative law of addition is in infinite series. Often in the introduction to infinite series in calculus, one sees Riemann's Theorem: A conditionally convergent series can be rearranged to sum to any number. Unfortunately, the usual proof of this theorem does not indicate what the sum of a given rearrangement is. In this talk, we will examine the best known conditionally convergent series, the alternating harmonic series, and show how to find the sum of any rearrangement in which the positive terms and the negative terms are each in their usual order.
Speaker: Tara Davis
Group Theory is a branch of mathematics which can essentially be described as the study of symmetries. In this talk, we will define and give many examples of groups, as well as describe some of the real-world applications of group theory. We will also discuss Fermat's Last Theorem, and how after 350+ years, group theory helped Andrew Wiles solve it and become a mathematical hero.
Past Talks
2006 Spring Schedule
2005 Fall Schedule
2005 Spring Schedule
2004 Fall Schedule
2003 Spring Schedule
2002 Spring Schedule
2001 Fall Schedule
2001 Spring Schedule
Site Maintained by Hannah Callender
hannah.l.callender@vanderbilt.edu
Last Updated
November 27, 2006