Mathematical Sciences Foundry

  On M onday, February 10 at 4pm in Olin 201 Dr. Andrés Aragoneses will talk about how chaos is a relatively recent field of research that merges topics as diverse as mathematics, biology, physics, astronomy, economics, and geology. It encompasses phenomena ranging from avalanches in piles of sand to population dynamics, virus propagation, soccer strategies, stock market fluctuations, laser oscillations, and the dynamics of particles in Saturn’s rings. Chaos is not randomness, though it can sometimes be difficult to distinguish between the two. In this presentation, he will explore how chaos can be simulated, the physical systems in which it can be found, how mathematical techniques can be developed to characterize and unveil hidden symmetries in chaotic behaviour, and how universality patterns can be discovered within chaos.   BIO: Andrés Aragoneses conducts experimental research in photonics and complex dynamics. In his experimental setups, known as Photonic Neurons, he ind...

  On M onday, February 3 at 4pm in Olin 201 Dr. Matt Petersen will talk about how in 1842 the Orientalist G.H.F. Nesselmann identified three stages in the progressive development of algebra: 1) Rhetorical algebra, in which problems are stated and solved in words. 2) Syncopated algebra, in which abbreviations are used in the place of words. Finally, 3) at the highest level, a fully symbolic algebra, in which words are entirely replaced with symbols and general numeric claims can be formed. There are numerous problems with this eurocentric history of mathematics (though it remains popular) but one of the most critical is that it treats algebra itself as an unproblematic object, and thus blinds us to deep differences in the discipline called algebra, whether the algebra is written in words (as was standard in Islamic mathematical texts), in abbreviations (as in Diophantus,or Tartaglia), or in a fully syncopated algebra, as was used for calculations by Islamic mathematicians from the M...