Madison Math Circle: Difference between revisions

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=== TBA ===
 
 
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{| style="color:black; font-size:120%" border="1" cellpadding="14" cellspacing="0"
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! Date and RSVP links!! Speaker !! Topic (click for more info)
|-
| February 4, 2013 [https://docs.google.com/a/wisc.edu/spreadsheet/viewform?formkey=dGZ0SU9ydkdITDd2MFE5c3BlcHVES2c6MQ#gid=0 Register!] || Jonathan Kane || [[#Infinitely Often | Infinitely Often]]
|-
| February 11, 2013 [https://docs.google.com/a/wisc.edu/spreadsheet/viewform?formkey=dEo4eHJxY0NfdWpMZGZtQjU5Wmt1Rnc6MA#gid=0 Register!] || Jean-Luc Thiffeault || [[#Making taffy with the Golden mean | Making taffy with the Golden mean]]
|-
| February 18, 2013 [https://docs.google.com/a/wisc.edu/spreadsheet/viewform?formkey=dEZUcmcta3NaZlk1eGZhZDRCNXMzVmc6MA#gid=0 Register!] || Alison Gordon Lynch || [[#Guarding an Art Gallery | Guarding an Art Gallery]]
|-
| February 25, 2013 [https://docs.google.com/a/wisc.edu/spreadsheet/viewform?formkey=dDBTRXlTcTVpRlJfdEVlZ2t0dk1nLXc6MA#gid=0 Register!] || Mimansa Vahia || [[#Origami | Origami]]
|-
| Wed., Feb. 27, 2013 (Public Lecture, '''5pm''', '''B239''') || David Perry || [[#The Coming of Enigma | The Coming of Enigma ]]
|-
| March 4, 2013 [https://docs.google.com/a/wisc.edu/spreadsheet/viewform?formkey=dG1LR2NoeElhVktzSjRudXltX3ZjeWc6MA#gid=0 Register!] || Betsy Stovall || [[#The Game of Nim | The Game of Nim]]
|-
| March 11, 2013 [https://docs.google.com/a/wisc.edu/spreadsheet/viewform?formkey=dDhtZDFrT3hZbXpkcEt3TXYzVl9sVHc6MA#gid=0 Register!] || Greg Shinault || [[#Pythagorean Triples: A Personal Interview | Pythagorean Triples: A Personal Interview]]
|-
| March 18, 2013 [https://docs.google.com/a/wisc.edu/spreadsheet/viewform?formkey=dGI0NjBrTkpkcElUQzU2TWVmT29zOEE6MA#gid=0 Register!] || Elaine Brow || [[#Doodling and Graph Theory | Doodling and Graph Theory]]
|-
| March 25, 2013 [https://docs.google.com/a/wisc.edu/spreadsheet/viewform?formkey=dHZwbnZoM2xPUF90YmNfVXg3TkJzWkE6MA#gid=0 Register!] || Spring Break || No Meeting
|-
| April 1, 2013 [https://docs.google.com/a/wisc.edu/spreadsheet/viewform?formkey=dHpScXdyQ2RtUUtOY3BVeE9QSVBHTlE6MA#gid=0 Register!] || Uri Andrews || [[#A Mathematician's April Fools | A Mathematician's April Fools]]
|-
| April 8, 2013 [https://docs.google.com/a/wisc.edu/spreadsheet/viewform?formkey=dE1LWUZXT2JuVVkzZ3FNa2xUMWJKSHc6MA#gid=0 Register!] || Daniel Ross || [[#String puzzles | String puzzles]]
|-
| April 15, 2013 [https://docs.google.com/a/wisc.edu/spreadsheet/viewform?formkey=dDdQcnE0aGdPQm94RGlUeTZFOWtJSVE6MA#gid=0 Register!] || Silas Johnson || [[#How to Win (or not) at Tic-Tac-Toe | How to Win (or not) at Tic-Tac-Toe]]
|-
| April 22, 2013 [https://docs.google.com/a/wisc.edu/spreadsheet/viewform?formkey=dFV6TlItZXZMMGg0YkdPZVE1TVl5U1E6MA#gid=0 Register!] || Lalit Jain || [[#Playing with Zomes | Playing with Zomes]]
|-
| April 29, 2013 [https://docs.google.com/a/wisc.edu/spreadsheet/viewform?formkey=dHpaQlFrYnE4TVRZS0tkWG5ONzRYbVE6MA#gid=0 Register!] || TBA || [[#TBA | TBA]] 
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===Infinitely Often===
 
<span style="background:#00FF00">February 4th, 2013, '''6pm''', Van Vleck Hall room B231, UW-Madison campus</span>
 
''' Infinitely Often'''
 
So you think you can add two numbers, three number, even a lot of numbers together? Well, can you add an infinite number of numbers together?
See how thinking about infinite processes can be used to add infinite sums, evaluate repeating decimals, understand infinite continued fractions, and calculate areas and volumes. Also see what strange things can go wrong when dealing with infinity.
 
===Making taffy with the Golden mean===
 
<span style="background:#00FF00">February 11th, 2013, '''6pm''', Van Vleck Hall room B231, UW-Madison campus</span>
 
''' Making taffy with the Golden mean'''
 
Taffy pullers are devices used to make candy or bread. They are very
interesting mathematically: we can relate the number of folds of dough
to some famous mathematical sequences.  Some surprising numbers pop
up, like the Golden mean but also its lesser-known cousins.  We can
use this knowledge to improve existing devices. (Warning: no actual
taffy will be made. Sorry.)
 
===Guarding an Art Gallery===
 
<span style="background:#00FF00">February 18th, 2013, '''6pm''', Van Vleck Hall room B231, UW-Madison campus</span>
 
'''Guarding an Art Gallery'''
 
How many guards does it take to guard an art gallery so that every spot in the gallery can be seen by at least one guard?  We will explore this question and find an upper bound on the number of necessary guards based only on the number of walls in the gallery.
 
===The Coming of Enigma===
 
<span style="background:#00FF00">Special Public Lecture:  Wednesday, February 27th, 2013, '''5pm''', Van Vleck Hall room '''B239''', UW-Madison campus</span>
 
The Enigma machine was a cryptodevice used by the Germans before and during
World War II and was considered to provide unbreakable security.  This
belief was founded on very solid principles which will be outlined in this
talk.  Taking a two-millennia tour through the history of cryptology, we
will come to understand the design principles that went into the Enigma and
understand how it worked and how it was used.  We will also touch on how
espionage, treason, and sibling rivalry provided Polish mathematicians the
necessary ingredients to break the unbreakable.  This talk is geared towards
the general public, with no specific expertise in mathematics assumed.
 
===Origami===
 
<span style="background:#00FF00">February 25th, 2013, '''6pm''', Van Vleck Hall room B231, UW-Madison campus</span>
 
Origami is the art of folding paper, and it involves some cool math, too.  Come to find out more!
 
===The Game of Nim===
 
<span style="background:#00FF00">March 4th, 2013, '''6pm''', Van Vleck Hall room B231, UW-Madison campus</span>
 
Nim is a two-player game wherein the players alternate taking one or more stones from a pile (there are two or more piles at the beginning).  The player who takes the last stone wins.  We will spend most of the time playing and trying to come up with winning strategies.  At the end, we will talk a little about the history a general strategy to win the game. 
 
=== Pythagorean Triples: A Personal Interview ===
 
<span style="background:#00FF00">March 11th, 2013, '''6pm''', Van Vleck Hall room B231, UW-Madison campus</span>
 
We all know the Pythagorean theorem from geometry, which tells us the relationship between the side lengths of any right triangle: a^2 + b^2 = c^2, where c is the length of the hypotenuse.  Sometimes we are very lucky, when a, b, and c are natural numbers such as 3, 4, and 5.  That is called a Pythagorean triple.  We're going take a close look at these characters and figure out a few of their less-than-obvious traits.
 
=== Doodling and Graph Theory ===
 
<span style="background:#00FF00">March 18th, 2013, '''6pm''', Van Vleck Hall room B231, UW-Madison campus</span>
 
Some of the pencil-and-paper games we play in notebook margins use more math than meets the eye. We'll try out a few fun and simple doodling puzzles, and see how they translate to some basic questions in graph theory. Then we'll harness our new theory to find quick solutions to whole groups of puzzles.
 
=== A Mathematician's April Fools ===
 
<span style="background:#00FF00">April 1st, 2013, '''6pm''', Van Vleck Hall room B231, UW-Madison campus</span>
 
A paradox is a seemingly logically valid argument that leads to absurd conclusions. Mathematicians are always very careful to avoid accidentally using one, but they can be useful and fun to play with.
 
 
=== String puzzles ===
 
<span style="background:#00FF00">April 8th, 2013, '''6pm''', Van Vleck Hall room B231, UW-Madison campus</span>
 
They may be familiar from novelty shops or even your mantlepiece--a bit of string wound around and through some configuration of objects, asking you to accomplish some apparently impossible rearrangement or removal.  Part of their difficulty comes from hopelessly infinite array of available moves--do you perhaps tie a clever knot here?  Maybe pass a bight through there?  We'll look at a few examples and see how to distill them to something more manageable, and even turn some into puzzles that can be solved instead only on paper (no drawing skills required).
 
=== How to Win (or not) at Tic-Tac-Toe ===
 
<span style="background:#00FF00">April 15th, 2013, '''6pm''', Van Vleck Hall room B231, UW-Madison campus</span>
 
 
=== Playing with Zomes ===
 
<span style="background:#00FF00">April 22nd, 2013, '''6pm''', Van Vleck Hall room B231, UW-Madison campus</span>
 
This week we will and study the symmetric and magic of 3 dimensional shapes. Be ready to get your hands dirty and make your own stellated icosahedron!
 
-->
 
<!--=== TBA ===


'''To Be Announced:'''
'''To Be Announced:'''
Keep an eye out---we'll have more information soon!
Keep an eye out---we'll have more information soon!
-->
 


==[[Archived Math Circle Material]]==
==[[Archived Math Circle Material]]==
[[Archived Math Circle Material]]
[[Archived Math Circle Material]]

Revision as of 21:02, 28 September 2013

What is it?

The UW-Madison math department organizes a series of talks aimed at interested middle school and high school students throughout the semester. Our goal is to present fun talks that give students a taste of interesting ideas in math and science. In the past we've had talks about plasma and weather in outer space, the way images are shaded in video games, and how credit card numbers are securely transmitted over the internet.

After each talk we'll have snacks provided by the Mathematics Department, and students will have an opportunity to mingle and chat with the speaker and with other participants, to ask questions about some of the topics that have been discussed, and also about college, careers in science, etc.

The Madison Math circle was featured in Wisconsin State Journal: http://host.madison.com/wsj/news/local/education/local_schools/school-spotlight-madison-math-circle-gives-young-students-a-taste/article_77f5c042-0b3d-11e1-ba5f-001cc4c03286.html

Alright, I want to come!

Great!

Sign up for our email list: https://lists.math.wisc.edu/listinfo/math-circle

If you are a student, we hope you will tell other interested students about these talks, and speak with your parents or with your teacher about organizing a car pool to the UW campus (and tell us how many people are coming so we can purchase the appropriate amount of pizza!)

If you are a parent or a teacher, we hope you'll tell your students about these talks and organize a car pool to the UW (all talks take place in Ingraham Hall room 120, on the UW-Madison campus).

Parking. Parking on campus is rather limited. Here is as list of some options:

Questions?

If you have any questions, suggestions for topics, or so on, just email the organizers (Lalit Jain, Dan Erman, Gheorghe Craciun, and Philip Matchett Wood): math-circle-organizers@math.wisc.edu.


Talks for Fall 2013

All talks are at 6pm in Ingraham Hall room 120, unless otherwise noted.


TBA

To Be Announced: Keep an eye out---we'll have more information soon!


Archived Math Circle Material

Archived Math Circle Material

Date and RSVP links Speaker Topic (click for more info)
October 7, 2013 Gheorghe Craciun Games Puzzles and Theorems in Geometry
October 14, 2013 Gheorghe Craciun Games Puzzles and Theorems in Geometry
October 21, 2013 Uri Andrews TBD
October 28 2013 Uri Andrews TBD
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