Events for February 2008
If there are any Math/CS events that you would like posted on this calendar, please contact Kevin Hartshorn (hartshorn@moravian.edu).
Monday, February 4, 2008
4:00 PM to 4:45 PM
Math Society E-talk
Math/CS Common area
Spheriosity - Computer Emulation of Spherical Geometry
Tim Mills
A curious student was playing around with a transparent sphere and thought "... there must be a better way". What he ended up with was the beginning of a computer emulation of spherical geometry. This talk will discuss the beginnings of what went into the project. There will be a bit of computer science, but most of the talk is math based. Come see the progress that has been made on the application and learn about how it works!
Epsilon talks are short 15-30 minute talks about a particular topic in mathematics and sometimes computer science. They are given by both students and professors who have a short topic to present. If your math professor has culture point requirements this is a great way to help fulfill that. Epsilon talks are of course open to anyone who wants to attend so we encourage everyone with an interest in math to join in.
Light refreshments funded by USG.
Monday, February 11, 2008
4:00 PM to 4:45 PM
Math Society E-talk
Math/CS Common area
Circle and Sphere Packing
Rachael Todd
Circle and sphere packing refers to methods of arranging these objects without overlap to minimize the wasted space between them. On an infinite plane, we look at circle packing with circles of the same radius and note that there is a correlation between regular tessellations on the plane and the possible optimal circle packings. Through these tilings, we can conclude that the optimal packing for circles is based around equilateral triangles. Introducing boundaries may change the optimal packing. For larger dimensions, the optimal packing density for spheres diminishes. For higher dimensional spheres, a random packing will be denser than one systematically arranged.
Epsilon talks are short 15-30 minute talks about a particular topic in mathematics and sometimes computer science. They are given by both students and professors who have a short topic to present. If your math professor has culture point requirements this is a great way to help fulfill that. Epsilon talks are of course open to anyone who wants to attend so we encourage everyone with an interest in math to join in.
Light refreshments funded by USG.
Wednesday, February 13, 2008
9:00 PM to 10:00 PM
Cheesesteak Night
Starter's Pub
If you've never heard of cheesesteak night, the computer science department heads to Starters' pub (the old one) on the second Wednesday of every month for $2 cheesesteaks and fun. The math department and anyone in a math or computer science class are invited to join us!
If you are planning to go but need a ride, please E-mail me (Wes) and let me know. We will be meeting at 8:40 in the CS Lab (PPHAC-114), if you would like to meet us there plan to get to Starters' at 9:00.
Thursday, February 14, 2008
Math & Art Exhibit
HUB
What are the connections between mathematics and art? How does mathematics illuminate, generate, inform, or constrain works of art? How can artists considerations engender, illustrate, engage, or challenge mathematical ideas?
This exhibit is just a small sampling of the ways that mathematics and art interact.
Saturday, February 16, 2008
Monday, February 18, 2008
4:00 PM to 4:45 PM
Math Society E-talk
Math/CS Common area
To Infinity and Beyond
Fred Schultheis
A few semesters ago Professor Fraboni gave an epsilon talk on different sizes of infinity. He showed, with an elementary proof, that the cardinality (number of elements) of the natural numbers is strictly less than the cardinality of the real numbers. Using a similar proof that is just as elementary, we will show that not only are there different sizes of infinity, but there are infinitely many different sizes of infinity.
Epsilon talks are short 15-30 minute talks about a particular topic in mathematics and sometimes computer science. They are given by both students and professors who have a short topic to present. If your math professor has culture point requirements this is a great way to help fulfill that. Epsilon talks are of course open to anyone who wants to attend so we encourage everyone with an interest in math to join in.
Light refreshments funded by USG.
There will be a short 15 minute meeting for members of math society of those interested in joining at 3:45.
Monday, February 25, 2008
12:00 PM to 4:00 PM
Math & Art Exhibit
HUB
February 15 - February 25
What are the connections between mathematics and art? How does mathematics illuminate, generate, inform, or constrain works of art? How can artists considerations engender, illustrate, engage, or challenge mathematical ideas?
This exhibit is just a small sampling of the ways that mathematics and art interact.
This exhibit will end Monday, February 25 to make way for the Honors Posters for Spring 2008.
4:00 PM to 4:45 PM
Math Society E-talk
Math/CS Common area
Mathematical Sculpture
All participants welcome
Last Saturday, mathematician George Hart came to Moravian for our annual Student Mathematics Conference, and shared with us some of his "mathematically informed sculptures." Many of the sculptures he showed us were slides in a presentation, while others were laid out on a table for display. However, one of the highlights of his presentation was when he showed his audience how to actually make a sphere out of 30 squares of paper. In this Epsilon Talk, we will show all of you how to make the same sphere, and we will discuss some other possible mathematical sculptures.
Epsilon talks are short 15-30 minute talks about a particular topic in mathematics and sometimes computer science. They are given by both students and professors who have a short topic to present. If your math professor has culture point requirements this is a great way to help fulfill that. Epsilon talks are of course open to anyone who wants to attend so we encourage everyone with an interest in math to join in.
Light refreshments funded by USG.
Tuesday, February 26, 2008
11:30 AM to 12:30 PM
Math/CS Colloquium
Geometry and More in the Game of SET®
Liz MacMahon (Lafayette College)
The game of Set® turns out to be deeply geometric. We'll explore a lot of this geometry, and even get to discuss what have been called Magic Squares and a new geometric result that arose from looking at the game.
Pizza lunch will be provided at the beginning of the colloquium.