What do swarm robotics and political redistricting have in common? One answer is Markov chains, which have recently been used in very different ways to address problems in both these areas. To get a large swarm to exhibit a desired behavior, one solution is to make each individual in the swarm fairly intelligent; another is […]
Knotting in living organisms is a feature that is visible to the careful observer of biological life. Since the 1970’s, with the increasing power of electron microscopes, scientists have been able to capture images of such structures in living organisms at near atomic levels. We will explore the mathematics of knotting that has provided tools study these […]
Many problems, arising in discrete and metric geometry, signal processing, physics, etc, can be reformulated as questions of optimizing discrete or continuous measures. We shall review some of such conjectures, as well as approaches to determining optimal (or at least good) point distributions and measures, and connections to other problems, such as discrepancy, sphere packings […]
Opioid addiction has become a national health crisis in recent years, with involvement in 66% of all drug overdose deaths in 2016 and high economic costs. In contrast to the dynamics of a classic disease or illicit drug epidemic, opioid addiction has its roots in legal, prescription medication - a fact which greatly increases the […]
In 1897, Indiana physician Edwin J. Goodwin believed he had discovered a way to square the circle, and proposed a bill to Indiana Representative Taylor I. Record which would secure […]
David Hilbert's Grundlagen der Geometrie is a rare example of a historical mathematics text that is still profitably read today and continues to inspire research in mathematics, computer science, and philosophy. The […]
David Bachman, chair of the CCMS Executive Committee, hosts. Please join us as we welcome our new community members, socialize, and discuss how we’re all going to cope with the semester ahead. Grab a snack, a refreshing beverage, and get on-line!
Title: Indiana Pols Forced to Eat Humble Pi, The Curious History of an Irrational Number Speaker: Prof. Edray Goins, Pomona College In 1897, Indiana physician Edwin J. Goodwin believed he had discovered a way to square the circle, and proposed a bill to Indiana Representative Taylor I. Record which would secure Indiana’s the claim to […]
