Wednesday, September 2, 2009 at 4:00 PM in SAS 2202
Nathan Reading, NC State
Hey! That's not my hat! Derangements and the number eWednesday, September 9, 2009 at 4:00 PM in SAS 2229
Molly Fenn, NC State
The Platonic Solids and the Four Color Theorem: An Introduction to Planar GraphsWednesday, September 16, 2009 at 4:00 PM in SAS 2229
Ralph Smith, NC State
Derivatives and Vibrating StructuresWednesday, September 23, 2009 at 4:00 PM in SAS 2229
Nathan Reading, NC State
Cayley's Formula
Say you have n computers (labeled 1, 2, . . . , n), and you start connecting pairs of computers with wires. The computers can relay messages, so, for example, if 1 is connected to 4 and 4 is connected to 7, then 1 and 7 can communicate.
This network of computers is an example of a graph: the computers are vertices and the wires are edges. If we connect all computers together with the smallest possible number of wires (n − 1), the graph is called a tree. Cayley’s formula tells us that there are nn−2 ways are there to connect the n computers with only n−1 wires. I’ll explain this surprisingly simply formula, and discuss the connection to the symmetric group of permutations. No prior knowledge of graphs, trees, the symmetric group, or permutations will be assumed. The talk will be accessible to all undergraduates.Wednesday, September 30, 2009 at 4:00 PM in SAS 2229
Ezra Miller, Duke University
Unfolding polyhedra
Most of us, as children, saw those paper or cardboard cutouts, which we could call “foldouts,” whose edges glue to form (boundaries of) 3-dimensional convex polyhedra. Just how did anyone figure out how to make them? Given a 3-dimensional convex polyhedron, does there always exist a foldout in the plane? What about higher dimensions? These questions have surprising answers, depending on the precise meaning of “foldout.” This talk will be accessible to all undergraduates, with tons of pictures to help us foray into four dimensions (though most of the talk will be in three or fewer), and absolutely no formulas.Wednesday, October 21, 2009 at 4:00 PM in SAS 2229
Alina Duca, NC State
Where is the best seat in a movie theatre?Wednesday, October 28, 2009 at 4:00 PM in SAS 2229
Negash Medhin, NC State
Modeling Dynamics of Social InteractionsWednesday, November 4, 2009 at 4:00 PM in SAS 2229
Anjela Govan, Northrop Grumman
Finding Message in the Noise: Mathematics of Direct-Sequence Spread SpectrumWednesday, November 11, 2009 at 4:00 PM in SAS 2229
Stephen Campbell, NC State
Getting in ControlWednesday, November 18, 2009 at 4:00 PM in SAS 2229
Kailash Misra, NC State
Ramanujan: The man who knew numbersWednesday, December 2, 2009 at 4:00 PM in SAS 2229
Shawn King, Chelsey Cooley, Rachael Gordon-Wright, NCSU
Undergraduate Research Presentations
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