• Nonvanishing minors and uncertainty principles for Fourier analysis over finite fields (Daniel Katz, CSUN)

    Millikan 2099, Pomona College 610 N. College Ave., Claremont, CA, United States

    Chebotarev's theorem on roots of unity says that every minor of a discrete Fourier transform matrix of prime order is nonzero. We present a generalization of this result that includes analogues for discrete cosine and discrete sine transform matrices as special cases.  This leads to a generalization of the Biro-Meshulam-Tao uncertainty principle to functions with […]

  • Accidental Mathematics (Matt Stamps, Yale-NUs College)

    Shanahan B460, Harvey Mudd College 301 Platt Blvd., Claremont, CA, United States

    Abstract:  Growing up, I always loved learning about world-changing scientific breakthroughs that were discovered by accident.  Penicillin, artificial sweeteners, X-rays, and synthetic dyes are just a few of the discoveries that were stumbled upon by scientists who had other goals in mind.  More recently, I have come to wonder why anecdotes about accidental discoveries in […]

  • Applied Math Talk: Cluster analysis on covariance stationary ergodic processes and locally asymptotically self-similar processes (Nan Rao, CGU)

    Emmy Noether Room, Millikan 1021, Pomona College 610 N. College Ave., Claremont, California

    We study the problems of clustering covariance stationary ergodic processes and locally asymptotically self-similar stochastic processes, when the true number of clusters is priorly known. A new covariance-based dissimilarity measure is introduced, […]

  • Indiana Pols Forced to Eat Humble Pi: The Curious History of an Irrational Number (Edray Goins, Pomona)

    Millikan 2099, Pomona College 610 N. College Ave., Claremont, CA, United States

    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 fame for his discovery.  About the time the debate about the bill concluded, Purdue University professor Clarence A. Waldo serendipitously came […]

  • Some Unexpected Mathematics Arising From Research at NIST ( Hunt, NIST)

    Shanahan B460, Harvey Mudd College 301 Platt Blvd., Claremont, CA, United States

    A lot of the mathematics done at NIST supports the research on and measurement of advanced materials and technology. In this rather applied context. surprising mathematics makes an appearance. We […]

  • Refinements of metrics (Wai Yan Pong, CSUDH)

    Millikan 2099, Pomona College 610 N. College Ave., Claremont, CA, United States

    I will talk about a few graph-theoretic metrics then introduce the concept of refinements on a class of functions that include all metrics. As a case study, we will construct various refinements on the shortest-path distance. Consequently, we obtain a few "better" versions of the Erdos number. In the course of our investigation, we realized various construction […]

  • Reasoning about Liability of Intelligent Agents ( Naumov, CMC)

    Shanahan B460, Harvey Mudd College 301 Platt Blvd., Claremont, CA, United States

    Abstract: As intelligent agents assume larger role in our daily lives, reasoning by humans about liability of such agents as well as reasoning by the intelligent agents themselves about liability […]

  • Fibonacci and Lucas analogues of binomial coefficients and what they count (Curtis Bennett, CSULB)

    Millikan 2099, Pomona College 610 N. College Ave., Claremont, CA, United States

    A Fibonomial is what is obtained when you replace each term of the binomial coefficients $ {n \choose k}$ by the corresponding Fibonacci number.  For example, the Fibonomial $${ 6\brace 3 } = \frac{F_6 \cdot F_5 \cdot \dots \cdot F_1}{(F_3\cdot F_2 \cdot F_1)(F_3\cdot F_2 \cdot F_1)} = \frac{8\cdot5\cdot3\cdot2\cdot1\cdot1}{(2\cdot1\cdot1)(2\cdot1\cdot1)} = 60$$ since the first six Fibonacci […]

  • On the interplay of functional analysis and operator theory (Puig de Dios, UCR)

    Shanahan B460, Harvey Mudd College 301 Platt Blvd., Claremont, CA, United States

    Abstract: We overview some basic and striking facts concerning the theory of hypercyclic operators (considered to be born in 1982): 1. Hypercyclicity is a purely infinite-dimensional phenomenon: no finite dimensional […]

  • Models of Biological Tissue Electrostatics and Molecular Transport (Jim Sterling, KGI)

    Emmy Noether Room, Millikan 1021, Pomona College 610 N. College Ave., Claremont, California

    In this presentation, some fundamentals of electrostatics in biology will be discussed with focus on the fact that most biological macromolecules including nucleic acids, carbohydrates, and proteins are negatively-charged. Electroneutrality […]