Thursday, September 25, 2008
04:15 pm
Special Preliminary Examination
Speaker: Glenn Henshaw<br>Title: Effective results on representations of quadratic forms
Exley Science Center - ESC 638
Saturday, October 11, 2008
07:00 am
AMS Sectional Meeting: 2008 Fall Eastern Section Meeting
Two day mathematics meeting with invited addresses by Duong Hong Phong, Columbia University; Monika Ludwig, Polytechnic Inst. of NYU; Pekka Koskela, University of Jyvaskylan; Thomas Warren Scanlon, UC Berkeley. There will also be special sessions with over two hundred speakers.
Exley Science Center - ESC Lobby
Wednesday, October 22, 2008
01:00 pm
Finitary isomorphisms of r-processes
Speaker: Stephen Shea, Wesleyan University<br>Abstract: We will begin by defining r-processes and providing a few examples of this new discrete stationary stochastic process. We will then define finitary isomorphism and review past results in the finitary theory. We will finish with a proof that entropy is a complete finitary isomorphism invariant for finite-state r-processes.
Exley Science Center - ESC 638
Friday, May 01, 2009
04:15 pm
Ph.D. Thesis Defense - An improved Method for computing Group Cohomology of Congruence Subgroups for SL_3(Z)
Speaker: Becky Hall<br>Abstract: A well-known theorem due to Manin gives a relationship between modular symbols for a congruence subgroup Γ0(N) of SL2(Z), and the homology of X0(N). A corresponding theorem for congruence subgroups of SL3(Z) was made by Avner Ash. I will discuss an improved method for computing the group cohomology for congruence subgroups of SL3(Z). For W a Γ0(N)-module, I identify the group cohomology of Γ0(N) with a subspace of Wa, for some integer a. This method uses a generalized notion of Grvbner bases in order to determine a minimal generating set for the ideal of conditions describing the desired subspace of Wa
Exley Science Center - ESC 121
Thursday, April 22, 2010
04:00 pm
- 06:00 pm
Thesis Defense, Nathan Fieldsteel
Speaker: Nathan Fieldsteel, Wesleyan UniversityAbstract: We will present a generalization of the Alexander module, which aims to distinguish knots by constructing modules corresponding to certain regular covering spaces of the knot complement. We will present a numerical invariant that can be extracted from these modules, and a procedure by which we can compute it in practice in the case of the first higher-order Alexander module.
ESC 638
Tuesday, February 01, 2011
12:00 pm
- 01:00 pm
Math Club
Panel Discussion for undergraduate with information on summer opportunities in mathematics.
ESC 184 (Woodhead Lounge)
Wednesday, February 16, 2011
12:00 pm
- 01:00 pm
Introduction to Coding Theory and Quantum Error Correcting Codes
Speaker: Mike ChouAbstract: Ever wonder why barcodes work? No? How about computers, satellites, cellphones and all those fancy gizmos you own.This talk will focus on introducing the topic of Coding Theory, the basis for the language in which modern appliances communicate, as well as touch upon the recent topic of applying coding theory in a quantum setting.As for background knowledge, intellectual curiosity is all that's required; although a basic understanding of linear algebra might be helpful.All are invited, lunch will be served.(Due to a scheduling conflict, David Puelz's talk will be postponed to a later date.
ESC 139
Tuesday, February 22, 2011
12:00 pm
- 01:00 pm
Open House for Prospective Math and Computer Science Majors
Come join us to find out about being a Mathematics or Computer Science major. Meet the faculty, staff, graduate students and current majors.Lunch from Lino's will be served.
ESC 601 (Math Lounge)
Wednesday, February 23, 2011
12:00 pm
- 01:00 pm
Oil Drilling and Mathematics
Speaker: Charles Puelz, '11Abstract: Have you wondered how the gas in your car gets to the pump? First it has to be found in nature, and to do this the oil industry employs an imaging technique using reflected acoustic waves. This requires solving the following inverse problem: constructing an image of the subsurface (hopefully containing oil) given the data collected at receiver microphones.In this talk we will give a general introduction to the subject of Inverse Theory, a topic of great current interest in applied mathematics. Then we will discuss inverse problems in the field of reflection seismology. This will begin with an explanation of the experimental setup and data collection, and will conclude with a derivation of the imaging operators used to find oil in the subsurface.As for background knowledge, intellectual curiosity is all that's required; although, a basic understanding of linear algebra and analysis might be helpful.All are Invited. Lunch will be served.
ESC 139
Tuesday, April 12, 2011
04:15 pm
- 05:15 pm
Infinite Automata
Speaker: Nathaniel Rook, '11Senior Honors Talk
ESC 638
Thursday, April 14, 2011
12:00 pm
- 02:30 pm
Comp. Sci. Hack 'n Tell (WesFest)
Computer Science students will present projects that they have been working on outside of classes. Open to students visiting during WesFest.
ESC 184 (Woodhead Lounge)
Friday, April 15, 2011
12:00 pm
- 01:00 pm
Constructible Numbers: An Introduction to Alegebraic Structures
Speaker: Reed Sarney, '12Abstract: Greek geometers puzzled over the figures which they could construct using only a traditional compass and straightedge, but they puzzled even harder over the figures which seemed impossible to construct using those same tools. Given a circle, is it possible to construct a square with exactly the same area? Given a cube, is it possible to construct another one with exactly twice the volume? After two millennia, it turned out that these kinds of geometric questions could be answered in purely algebraic terms. This talk will introduce students to basic notions of algebraic structures via traditional compass and straightedge constructions in two dimensions.The material presented in the talk will be entirely self-contained; no prior knowledge of or background in mathematics will be assumed.All are invited, lunch will be served.
ESC 139
Friday, April 15, 2011
03:00 pm
- 04:00 pm
An Ode to John Henry
Speaker: Joel Specter, '11Abstract: John Henry hammered on the right-hand side. Steam drill kept driving on the left. John Henry beat that steam drill down. But he hammered his poor heart to death, Lord, Lord, He hammered his poor heart to death.Join me this Friday as I pit myself against machine and race to prove the Chebotarev density theorem before a computer is able to provide reasonable evidence for the theorem's validity.
ESC 638
Friday, April 22, 2011
12:00 pm
- 01:00 pm
The Global Positioning System: Quanitfying Measurement Uncertainty and Coverage Optimization
Speaker: David Puelz, '11Abstract: How does your iphone's or TomTom's GPS work? Why is it sometimes inaccurate? Or better yet, how can we quantify and analyze these inaccuracies?The Global Positioning System (GPS) is a space-based global navigation satellite system that provides reliable location and time information given an unobstructed line of sight to four or more GPS satellites. The configuration of the GPS satellites has evolved to provide the most functional system for the broadest class of users given a limited amount of resources. However, evaluation methods of the current GPS system utilize only four satellites in view, while increasing the number of satellites to determine position will always increase GPS accuracy.In this talk, I'll develop intuitively meaningful expressions for a GPS performance metric that utilize information from all satellites in view. I'll also develop explicit expressions for the metric's first and second derivatives and construct efficient methods for analyzing GPS coverage.All are invited. Lunch from Iguanas Ranas will be served.
ESC 139
Tuesday, April 26, 2011
04:15 pm
- 06:00 pm
The Spectral Theorem for Bounded Symmetric Operators
Speaker: Irinia Zaitseva, '10, MA Thesis DefenseAbstract: In this talk I will present a proof of the Spectral Theorem forbounded symmetric operators on a separable Hilbert space, whichexpresses each such operator as an integral with respect to a certainfamily of orthogonal projections. The proof I will present is an earlyone due to F. Riesz.
ESC 638
Thursday, April 28, 2011
12:00 pm
- 01:00 pm
Polarized Partition Properties on ω_1
Speaker: Sarah Mullens, Hampshire UndergraduateAbstract: Abstract: Budding from a paper written by Frank Ramsey in 1930, the fieldof infinitary combinatorics has become one of the most thought about areasin set theory. Of particular interest are properties of partitions F : α^β →2. A lot of work has been done when α,β are countable. This talk willexplore possibilities regarding extending these well-known partition propertiesto uncountable ordinals, specifically ω_1.As for background knowledge, intellectual curiosity is all thatsrequired; although, some familiarity with the aspects of set theorycovered in discrete mathematics course may be helpful.All Are Invited.Lunch Will Be Served.The Undergraduate Mathematics Colloquium is a weekly gathering for all those who areinterested in mathematics. All students, irrespective of their mathematical background,are invited to attend and/or give a talk.For more information, please contact Karen L. Collins (kcollins@wesleyan.edu).
ESC 139
Friday, May 06, 2011
12:00 pm
- 01:00 pm
Beauty in Numbers: Fibonacci Numbers and the Golden Ratio
Speaker: Eric Mandell, Wesleyan UndergraduateAbstract: While the Fibonacci numbers are well known for their frequentappearance in nature, the reason for this is not as well known. In this talk, wewill explore some patterns found in the Fibonacci sequence, and relate themto the golden ratio. Using this relationship, we will explain the signicant rolethat the sequence plays in nature.No background knowledge is required for the talk, just aninterest and appreciation of numbers and patterns.All Are Invited.Lunch Will Be Served.The Undergraduate Mathematics Colloquium is a weekly gathering for all those who areinterested in mathematics. All students, irrespective of their mathematical background,are invited to attend and/or give a talk.For more information, please contact Karen L. Collins (kcollins@wesleyan.edu).
ESC 139
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