Saturday Morning Math Group: Fall 2003 Presentations

Saturday Morning Math Group

Fall 2004/Spring 2005 Schedule

Saturday September 11, 2004

Location: RLM 4.102 (On the UT campus)
Group Leader: Dr. Michael Starbird -------------->
Topic: Fixed Point Theory
Title: "Fixed Points and Stormy Weather"
Poster: Click here for the poster.

Somewhere on Earth at this very moment there are two antipodal points (that is, points directly opposite from one another through the Earth) where the temperature are identical and the pressures are also ideantical. Also, there is always some place on Earth where the wind is not blowing. These weather facts really come from mathematical insights rather than from meteorology. Dr. Starbird will discuss the mathematics behind these weather phenonena including fixed point theory and winding numbers!

Here are some pictures from the meeting!

Saturday October 9, 2004

Location: RLM 4.102 (On the UT campus)
Group Leader: Dr. Fernando Rodriguez-Villegas ------------->
Topic: Mathematics of Sliding Blocks Puzzles
Title: Shuffle and Slide
Poster: Click here for the poster.

         Here are some links to online sliding blocks puzzles:
             - Sliding Block Home Page
             - Kidport
             - "Rush Hour" (the goal is to move the red car to the arrow)

If you start to play and find yourself wishing you could solve them faster (or solve them at all), then come to hear Dr. Villegas' talk on Oct. 9. He'll tell you all about the math and strategy behind the puzzles and you just might become a whiz at them.

Click here to view some pictures from the meeting.

Saturday October 30, 2004

Location: RLM 4.102 (On the UT campus)
Group Leader: Dr. Thomas Hills
Title: Time Perception and Animal Foraging
Poster: Click here for the poster.

            Here is a link to the powerpoint presentation.

            Pictures of the meeting

Saturday November 20, 2004

Location: RLM 4.102 (On the UT campus)
Group Leader: Dr. Cynthia Verjovsky Marcotte ------------->
Topic: Frieze Groups and Wallpaper Groups
Title: Patterns and Symmetry
Poster: Click here for the poster.

          Wondering what a frieze group or a wallpaper group is? If so, here are some sites you might want to check out.
          - Frieze groups
          - Frieze groups in crafts
          - Wallpaper groups
          - more on wallpaper groups
          - Wallpaper tilings

(example of a wallpaper group. cool, huh?)

Click here for pictures of the meeting.

Saturday January 29, 2005

Location: RLM 4.102 (On the UT campus)
Group Leader: Dr. Michael Marder ----------------------------------------------------->
Topic: Fractals
Title: "Leaves, Flowers, and Garbage Bags: Symmetry and Fractals Everywhere"
Poster: Click here for the poster.

Here are some pictures from the meeting!

Saturday February 26, 2005

Location: PAI 3.02 (On the UT campus)
Group Leader: Dr. Dan Freed ----------------------------->
Topic:Topology
Title: "What is Topology"
Poster: Click here for the poster.

Click here for the key to the map problem.

Click here to see the slides from the talk.

And here are some pictures from the meeting.

Saturday April 2, 2005

Location: RLM 4.102 (On the UT campus)
Group Leader: Dr. John Stanton -------------------------------------->
Topic:"Monte Carlo" methods
Title: "Solving Hard Problems by Throwing Dice"
Poster: Click here for the poster.

Here are some pictures from the meeting.

Saturday April 30, 2005

Location: RLM 4.102 (On the UT campus)
Group Leader: Dr. Genevieve Walsh -------------------------------------------------->
Topic:Topology
Title: "Tori are Everywhere"
Poster: Click here for the poster.

If you're begging for more, click here for a cool related website!

And here are some pictures from the meeting.