 |
SMMG – September 2024Date: September 8th, 2024 Time: 12pm-2pm Location: PMA 4.102 Speaker: Jeffrey Cheng Title: Buffon's Needle Abstract: In this talk, we'll learn a little bit about probability! First, we'll play a game and make a prediction about how often we win the game. After that, we'll prove exactly how often we SHOULD win the game. Finally, we'll talk about why these two probabilities may not be the same!
|
 |
SMMG – September 2024Date: September 22nd, 2024 Time: 12pm-2pm Location: PMA 4.102 Speaker: Prof. Michael Starbird Title: Geometric Gems Abstract: Plain plane geometry contains some of the most beautiful proofs ever—some dating from ancient times and some created by living mathematicians. This talk will include some of my favorites including with some very clever proofs of the Pythagorean Theorem. Geometry is timeless and global and provides us with many delectable treats! |
 |
SMMG – October 2024Date: October 6th, 2024 Time: 12pm-2pm Location: PMA 4.102 Speaker: Justin Toyota Title: Introduction to Limits Abstract: Limits lie at the heart of calculus, and thus at the heart of much of modern math. In short, limits are a way of describing the "end" of an infinite process. The reason "end" is in quotes is because the statement seems ridiculous: an infinite process never ends. This already tells us that we need to be more careful. However, the language of limits allows us to calculate a great many things, especially in physics. In this talk, I will try to trace a rough history of limits and show the essential idea of the concept. |
 |
SMMG – October 2024Date: October 20th, 2024 Time: 12pm-2pm Location: PMA 4.102 Speaker: Aaron Benda Title: Geometry Through the Ages Abstract: We’ll start by talking about plane geometry and Euclid’s original axiomatic formulation to study it systematically. Through a story surrounding Euclid’s controversial fifth postulate, we will see how mathematicians came to discover different kinds of geometry. We’ll briefly discuss some examples(namely hyperbolic and elliptic geometry) and their amazing features. We will cover applications in the real world before seeing how modern day geometry research has evolved from these fundamental notions. In particular, we’ll introduce the Erlangen program and see some of the major highlights of the modern day theory. |
 |
SMMG – November 2024Date: November 3rd, 2024 Time: 12pm-2pm Location: PMA 4.102 Speaker: Ansel Goh Title: Tic tac toe and polygonal presentations Abstract: Has tic-tac-toe gotten a bit stale for you? Have you ever wondered why we decided to play it on a square surface? In this talk, we will consider what happens when we look at different surfaces instead. More specifically, we will introduce polygonal presentations, which are a convenient way to visualize various surfaces. These pictures, which can be useful in proving math theorems, can also be used in a more recreational manner to breathe new life into old games. |
 |
The AMC 10/12
Dates: 10/12A Wednesday, November 6th, 2024 Time: TBA Location: PMA, Rooms TBA For more information and registration, click here! |
 |
SMMG – November 2024Date: November 17th, 2024 Time: 12pm-2pm Location: PMA 4.102 Speaker: Remy Bohm Title: Counting to infinityAbstract: Many people are surprised to learn that some infinities are "bigger" than others - and not always the ones you would guess! In this talk, we'll discuss countability, a property of infinities that makes them "small," prove that there are more real numbers between 0 and 1 than there are integers on the whole number line, and see some surprising repercussions of these properties in a game of Infinite Battleship. |
|
|
SMMG – December 2024Date: December 1st, 2024 Time: 12pm-2pm Location: PMA 4.102 Speaker: TBD Title: TBD Abstract: TBD |
SMMG
Are you interested in finding out more about the program by receiving event notifications from SMMG?
Then please click here to join the SMMG mailing list!
Other activities in which SMMG participates:
The American Mathematical Competitions
