Math Dept 2022-2023 Newsletter 12
Monday, 27 March 2023
Past newsletters can now be reached via the department website.
[Click on “About” and then “News and Events”].
Newsletter is sent out when there is something new.
Please send entries by the end of the workweek–Ed.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
MEETINGS AND SEMINARS IN THE DEPARTMENT
TUESDAYS
Seminar on Topological Semigroups
The seminar will include applications to Ramsey theory.
Neil Hindman is talking about “Combinatorially rich sets in arbitrary semigroups.”
Time 11 am.
Contact coordinator for zoom invite.
Coordinator Dennis Davenport
---------------------------------------------------------------
Statistics Seminar
Tuesdays 2pm, on zoom.
Contact coordinator Saraleesan Nadarajah for zoom link.
----------------------------------------------------------------------------
Combinatorics Seminar
TBA
Contact coordinator Lou Shapiro for zoom link.
WEDNESDAYS
Graduate Student Seminar
1pm, wednesday.
Contact Shakuan Frankson for more information.
------------------------------------------------------------------
Applied Math Reading Seminar
TBA
Students will get to practice studying papers and working on research problems.
Please write the coordinator for original handouts or for the recording link.
Contact coordinator for zoom link as well.
Coordinator: Katie Gurski, Yeona Kang
-----------------------------------------------------------
Math team/Math Club meetings
Organizer: Jill McGowan
-----------------------------------------------------------
FRIDAYS
Mathematics Department Colloquium
Fridays, 4.10 to 5pm.
Friday, 31 March
Kyle Peterson, DePaul University.
Title : Napkin Problem.
TALKS AND WORKSHOPS OUTSIDE DEPARTMENT
1. MAA NAM, TWO SIGMA lunch meeting on career in finance
MAA and NAM are joining with financial sciences firm Two Sigma to present a talk and discussion on career in finance for Howard math students. Howard alums who work in the industry would be among the presenters. The meeting will be on March 30 from 12 to 4pm in the Interdisciplinary Research Building.
2. Graduate Student Conference at Temple University
The 8th annual Temple University Graduate Student Conference in Algebra, Geometry and Topology will take place in Philadelphia, PA from May 26-28.
3. Panel on faculty work on climate change
Wikipedia will host a session on "Climate" of Information Access: How Students Are Tackling Climate Change on Wikipedia
Monday, March 27, 9:00 AM Pacific
Description: The realities of climate change are becoming increasingly present and having palpable consequences throughout the globe. As the effects of climate change become more prevalent, it's critical that people have access to reliable, current, and clear information about climate change. In this session, you'll learn how students at the post-secondary level are improving content related to climate change on Wikipedia as part of their coursework.
ANNOUNCEMENTS
1. Mohammad Mahmood research team hires post-doc
He writes: “I am pleased to say that our recent NSF-DMR research grant with the CoPI, Dr. Alexander Goncharov, Senior Research Scientist at Carnegie Institution of Washington, Washington, DC made us possible to hire a new postdoc, Dr. Huawei Chen from China for our ongoing research project with continued support from NSF-DMR grant (Mahmood PI) since 2009 on novel material synthesis at high pressures: synthesis and recovery of superhard and high energy density polynitrides. Dr. Chen got his Ph.D. in Mineralogy from ASU, Arizona.
The grant offers an opportunity for 12 month support to one graduate and two undergraduate students to work during each Summer for three years. “
2. (Thanks to NAM) Nominations open for J. Ernest Wilkins lecture
NAM Awards Committee welcomes nominations for the Wilkins lecture at the 2023 NAM Undergraduate Mathfest XXXIII to be held at Clark Atlanta University in Atlanta, GA on September 22-24, 2023. The lecture should be about a research topic for an audience of undergraduate mathematics majors. Priority will be given for nominations received by April 21st. Please go to this nomination website.
3. (Thanks to Bourama Toni) GMU Calculus Olympiad
Friday, March 31, 9 am to 4pm, Johnson Center, 3rd Floor.
Please register your team by Monday March 20 at their website.
4. (Thanks to Shakuan Frankson) HU SIAM chapter reactivated
The SIAM student chapter of the department has been reactivated. Undergraduate and Graduate students will be able to join as free student members. If interested in serving as a student officer or faculty advisor, please reach our to Shakuan or Dewayne Dixon.
SCHOLARSHIP AND FELLOWSHIP OPPORTUNITIES
(from various sources)
1. Summer Institute in Geosciences
The Critical Zone network organizes 10-week summer institutes in the Geosciences at different locations. Students get $6000 stipend plus boarding and lodging. Deadline March 31.
In previous newsletters:
RAY Fellowship Program
Wolfram Summer School program
HBCU STEM-US Research Center Faculty Program
INTERESTING ARTICLES AND WEBSITES
1. The most boring number in the world is...
We have all heard about the famous taxicab number 1729. The story starts with Hardy telling Ramanujan that it looked like a very boring number. Recent research on the popularity of numbers based on an analysis of their appearance in the sequences listed in the Online Encyclopedia of Integer Sequences reveals interesting patterns and also shows where our subjective preferences play a role.
2. (Thanks to Louise Raphael) How will AI change mathematics?
Symbolic logic programs such as LEAN are able to verify proofs of complex papers and suggest modifications. Neural network and machine learning based tools can solve problems themselves. What are the limitations and possibilities? Article from Nature