Graduate Pizza Seminar - Spring 2013
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Organizer(s) | Nathanial Shar, Patrick Devlin | Archive | |
Website | http://www.math.rutgers.edu/~nbs48/pizza |
Past Talks
Friday, May 3rd |
John Kim, Rutgers University |
"TBA" |
| Time: 1:40 PM |
| Location: Hill Grad Student Lounge |
| Abstract: TBA |
Friday, April 26th |
Burak Kaya, Rutgers University |
"Infinite Ramsey Theorem, its generalizations and some small large cardinals" |
| Time: 1:40 PM |
| Location: Hill Grad Student Lounge |
| Abstract: Assume you are going to a party at Hilbert's Hotel, which of course means there will be countably infinitely many guests! Is it possible to select infinitely many people so that either every one of them knows every other or none of them knows any other? By a well known theorem of Ramsey, this is indeed possible. What if we had uncountably many guests? Could we select a set (of the same cardinality) of such people? It turns out that our standard axioms of set theory, ZFC, cannot provide a positive solution to this question for some uncountable cardinal.
In this talk, we will discuss the infinite Ramsey theorem, some generalizations (like Erdős-Rado theorem), some limitations (like Sierpinski's theorem) and how all these combinatorial coloring properties are related to large cardinals, that is, cardinal numbers existence of which cannot be established in ZFC. Note: This talk will be self contained, so no prior knowledge on ordinals and cardinals is necessary possibly except some familiarity with basic set theoretic notions such as well orderings and equinumerosity. However, uncountable amounts of imagination and faith in natural numbers are expected! |
Friday, April 19th |
B.Kennedy (*), H.Roberts (**), A.Cohen, R.Lyons,R.Wilson(***), Gettysburg College(*), Montclair State Univ. (**), Rutgers University (***) |
"Panel discussion on career development in post-doc or tenure-track positions" |
| Time: 1:40 PM |
| Location: Hill Grad Student Lounge |
| Abstract: We are fortunate to have the participation of panelists with leadership position and experience from different kinds of institutions. The discussions should be helpful to both students who are about to complete their degree and those who just begin their graduate study, and will focus on questions such as:
How to find the departmental expectations on publication, teaching, and service? (the more specific, the better; the answers may vary from institution to institution) How to get regular, constructive feedback and suggestions on one's performance? How does the department evaluate the performance of post-docs and tenure-track faculty? Are there specific bench marks? How to establish good working relations will colleagues in a new environment? How to broaden one's horizon and find problems to work on beyond the original thesis area? What is the department's expectation on new faculty's applying for grants? What kind of mentoring and support does the department provide (in general and for helping grant applications)? How to look for grant support beyond the traditional NSF research grants? Should a junior person speak up or keep quiet in departmental matters? How does a junior person handle grievances, should issues arise? The panelists also welcome questions from the audience. This panel discussion is made possible through partial funding from an I-cubed funded (minigrant) project to the GSNB Project AGER. |
Friday, April 5th |
John Miller, Rutgers University |
"Who hid my subgroup?" |
| Time: 1:40 PM |
| Location: Hill Grad Student Lounge |
| Abstract: We'll discuss algorithms based on quantum mechanics which allow improved efficiency attacks on a difficult class of problems known as "hidden subgroup" problems. In particular, we can apply quantum computing to factor large integers, like 15. |
Friday, March 29th |
Rachel Levanger, Rutgers University |
"Why stop with just one? Persistence and a new look at fractal dimension" |
| Time: 1:40 PM |
| Location: Hill Grad Student Lounge |
| Abstract: In this talk, we will take a look at two ways to compute the fractal dimension of a modified Sierpinski triangle. First, we will uncover its dimension by looking at Hausdorff dimension, a rather well-known approach to computing the fractional dimension of a shape. We will then traverse through the relatively new ideas of persistent homology and examine a way to compute fractional dimension via these alternative ideas. |
Friday, March 8th |
Kellen Myers, Rutgers University |
"Ramsey Theory and Rado Numbers" |
| Time: 1:40 PM |
| Location: Hill Grad Student Lounge |
| Abstract: Ramsey Theory is a well-known area of combinatorics, and is of special interest because many simply-stated problems speak to much deeper methods in combinatorics and across other mathematical disciplines. The idea is to ask: If the pieces of a particular structure are colored, is any of that structure guaranteed to be all the same color? I will discuss the existence of monochromatic solutions to equations, as well as the basic premise of Ramsey Theory. A few specific and easily accessible results will be presented, but the big picture and connections to other areas of mathematics will also be discussed. No previous knowledge is assumed. |
Friday, March 1st |
Sjuvon Chung , Rutgers University |
"The history of the integral of sec(x)" |
| Time: 1:40 PM |
| Location: Hill Grad Student Lounge |
| Abstract: We've all encountered the integral of sec(x) at some point in our lives, and we've seen the substitution modern calculus textbooks use to evaluate it. What's the story behind it? Behind the integral? Join us to find out the answers and more! |
Friday, February 22nd |
Robert McRae, Rutgers University |
"Conway's uniqueness proof for the Leech lattice" |
| Time: 1:40 PM |
| Location: Hill Grad Student Lounge |
| Abstract: The Leech lattice is the lattice in 24-dimensional Euclidean space that gives the densest lattice sphere packing in 24 dimensions. It is also the unique even self-dual lattice in 24 dimensions that has no vectors of squared length 2. In this talk, I will discuss John H. Conway's beautiful proof of this uniqueness result. |
Friday, February 15th |
Charles Wolf , Rutgers University |
"The Gauss-Bonnet Formula" |
| Time: 1:40 PM |
| Location: Hill Grad Student Lounge |
| Abstract: We will develop some basic notions of differential geometry leading up to the Gauss-Bonnet formula, which relates the curvature of a polygon on a compact surface to the Euler characteristic of the polygon. I will conclude with some of the formula's generalizations, related conjectures, and applications. |
Friday, February 8th |
Michael Marcondes de Freitas, Rutgers University |
"TBA" |
| Time: 1:40 PM |
| Location: Hill Grad Student Lounge |
Friday, February 1st |
Becky Gordon, Rutgers University |
"What Would the World Look Like Without the Axiom of Choice?" |
| Time: 1:40 PM |
| Location: Hill Grad Student Lounge |
| Abstract: The axiom of choice is an innocuous-seeming axiom which was formulated little over a century ago. Though it was unofficially assumed for centuries beforehand and is widely accepted today, it has been the recipient of much criticism. Why has there been such resistance? How could such a modest assumption motivate such controversy? We will present some counter intuitive results following from the Axiom of Choice, and then to satisfy the constructivists in ourselves, we will begin to answer the question: what would the world look like without the axiom of choice? |
Friday, January 25th |
Amy Cohen, Roe Goodman, Joel Lebowitz, Roderich Tumulka, and Charles Weibel, Rutgers University |
"Panel on Publishing" |
| Time: 1:40 PM |
| Location: Hill Grad Student Lounge |
| Abstract: To provide orientation for graduate students about how to publish successfully, we are going to talk about questions such as:
What are journal editors looking for in a manuscript? How do I find the right journal for my paper? How should I prepare my manuscript? What is the procedure for submissions? What do referees do? How are they chosen? What is the procedure for acceptance vs. revision vs. rejection? What should I do if my paper gets rejected? What is Math Reviews and how does a review there differ from a referee's report? How do electronic journals differ from paper journals? How does arXiv differ from journals? How do proceedings volumes differ? What are the rules about ethical issues such priority disputes or plagiarism? Plus questions from the audience. Joel L. Lebowitz is the editor-in-chief of the Journal of Statistical Physics. Roe Goodman was an editor for the Proceedings of the AMS, 1992-1999. Charles A. Weibel is the managing editor of the Journal of Pure and Applied Algebra and the Journal of K-Theory. |