MathFest 2008
Graduate Student Activities
Wednesday, July 30th
MATH JEOPARDY
John Harris, Furman University
Mike Berry, University of Tennessee
Mike Mossinghoff, Davidson College
5:30 p.m. – 6:45 p.m.
Answer: A fun undergraduate mathematics contest to lead off Mathfest.
Question: What is Mathematics Jeopardy?
Thursday, July 31st
MAA LECTURE FOR STUDENTSSUDOKU: QUESTIONS, VARIATIONS AND RESEARCH
Laura Taalman, James Madison University
1:00 p.m. – 1:50 p.m.
Sudoku puzzles and their variants are linked to many mathematical problems involving combinatorics, Latin squares, magic squares, polyominos, symmetries, computer algorithms, the rook problem, graph colorings, and permutation group theory. In this talk we will explore variations of Sudoku and the many open problems and new results in this new field of recreational mathematics. Many of the problems we will discuss are suitable for undergraduate research projects. Puzzle handouts will be available for all to enjoy!
GRADUATE STUDENT POSTER SESSION
James Freeman, Cornell College
3:30 p.m. – 5:00 p.m.
GRADUATE STUDENT RECEPTION
David Manderscheid, University of Nebraska-Lincoln
James Freeman, Cornell College
5:00 p.m. – 6:00 p.m.
Friday, August 1st
HOW TO APPLY FOR JOBS
David Manderscheid, University of Nebraska-Lincoln
3:15 p.m. – 4:15 p.m.
The session is co-sponsored by the MAA Committee on Graduate Students and the Young Mathematicians Network.
PI MU EPSILON J. SUTHERLAND FRAME LECTURE:
THE SYMMETRIES OF THINGS
John H. Conway, Princeton University
8:00 p.m. – 8:50 p.m.
"Thurston's Commandment," namely that "Thou shalt not understand the symmetries of a geometrical object save by studying its orbifold" was first used (in fact before Thurston) by Murray MacBeath to enumerate the distinct finite symmetry groups that are possible for objects in space of a most three dimensions (which had been enumerated in another way by Fedorov in the 19th century). The first part of the lecture will describe the resulting groups in terms of a notation I devised some time ago, that also applies to the celebrated 17 crystallographic plane groups. The second part will describe their 3-dimensional analogs, the 219 crystallographic space groups, which were re-enumerated recently by a new method due to Conway, Delgado-Friedrichs, Huson and Thurston. It's all easy, and there will be lots of pictures!
Saturday, August 2nd
FINDING A GOOD FIT IN A GRADUATE PROGRAM (Panel Discussion)
Abbe Herzig, SUNY at Albany
8:30 - 10:20
Panel 1: Career Opportunities with an Advanced Degree
Panel 2: How to Find a Good Fit in a Graduate Program
Panel 3: What Graduate Faculty Look For in Applicants
MATH HORIZONS - MEET THE EDITORS
Steve Abbott, Middlebury College
Bruce Torrence, Randolph-Macon College
9:30 a.m. – 10:30 a.m.
In this informal session the co-editors elect of Math Horizons will be on hand to answer your questions and solicit your input regarding the future directions for Math Horizons.
GRADUATE STUDENT PAPER SESSION
James Freeman, Cornell College
1:00 p.m. – 3:25 p.m.
MEET ELVIS, LIVE AND IN-PERSON
Do Dogs Know Calculus? Bifurcations at the Beach
Tim Pennings, Hope College
2:00 p.m. - 3:15 p.m.
We will show that dogs - at least my dog, Elvis - knows calculus. That is, Elvis can find the optimal - fastest - route to a ball thrown into the water some distance down the beach.
But what happens when Elvis is positioned in the water and retrieves a ball that is also in the water? When should he swim straight to the ball, and when should he swim in to the shore, run along the shore, and then swim back out to the ball? What is the bifurcation point for the change in optimal strategy? Does Elvis bifurcate? Does his fur bicate?
Dr. Elvis (he has an honorary doctorate degree) will be in the building demonstrating that he's indeed the King of Calculus - and much more than a hound dog.
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