AMS Student Chapter Seminar: Difference between revisions

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The AMS Student Chapter Seminar is an informal, graduate student-run seminar on a wide range of mathematical topics. Pastries (usually donuts) will be provided.
The AMS Student Chapter Seminar (aka Donut Seminar) is an informal, graduate student seminar on a wide range of mathematical topics. The goal of the seminar is to promote community building and give graduate students an opportunity to communicate fun, accessible math to their peers in a stress-free (but not sugar-free) environment. Pastries (usually donuts) will be provided.


* '''When:''' Wednesdays, 3:20 PM – 3:50 PM
* '''When:''' Thursdays 4:00-4:30pm
* '''Where:''' Van Vleck, 9th floor lounge (unless otherwise announced)
* '''Where:''' Van Vleck, 9th floor lounge (unless otherwise announced)
* '''Organizers:''' [https://www.math.wisc.edu/~malexis/ Michel Alexis], [https://www.math.wisc.edu/~drwagner/ David Wagner], [http://www.math.wisc.edu/~nicodemus/ Patrick Nicodemus], [http://www.math.wisc.edu/~thaison/ Son Tu]
* '''Organizers:''' Ivan Aidun, Alex Bonat, Kaiyi Huang, Ethan Schondorf


Everyone is welcome to give a talk. To sign up, please contact one of the organizers with a title and abstract. Talks are 30 minutes long and should avoid assuming significant mathematical background beyond first-year graduate courses.
Everyone is welcome to give a talk. To sign up, please contact one of the organizers with a title and abstract. Talks are 25 minutes long and should avoid assuming significant mathematical background beyond first-year graduate courses.


The schedule of talks from past semesters can be found [[AMS Student Chapter Seminar, previous semesters|here]].
The schedule of talks from past semesters can be found [[AMS Student Chapter Seminar, previous semesters|here]].


== Fall 2018 ==
== Fall 2025 ==


 
<center>
=== September 26, Vladimir Sotirov ===
{| cellspacing="5" cellpadding="14" border="0" style="color:black; font-size:120%"
 
|-
Title: Geometric Algebra
| align="center" width="200" bgcolor="#D0D0D0" |'''Date'''
 
| align="center" width="200" bgcolor="#A6B658" |'''Speaker'''
Abstract: Geometric algebra, developed at the end of the 19th century by Grassman, Clifford, and Lipschitz, is the forgotten progenitor of the linear algebra we use to this day developed by Gibbs and Heaviside.
| align="center" width="300" bgcolor="#BCD2EE" |'''Title'''
In this short introduction, I will use geometric algebra to do two things. First, I will construct the field of complex numbers and the division algebra of the quaternions in a coordinate-free way. Second, I will derive the geometric interpretation of complex numbers and quaternions as representations of rotations in 2- and 3-dimensional space.  
| align="center" width="400" bgcolor="#BCD2EE" |'''Abstract'''
 
|-
=== October 3, Juliette Bruce ===
| bgcolor="#E0E0E0" | September 11
 
| bgcolor="#C6D46E" | Jacob Wood
Title: Kissing Conics
| bgcolor="#BCE2FE" | Realizing Matroids
 
| bgcolor="#BCE2FE" | A matroid is a combinatorial object encoding notions of "independence".  For example, given a set of vectors in a vector space, there is an associated matroid encoding which subsets of those vectors are linearly independent of one another.  A matroid arising in this way is called "realizable", but it turns out some abstract matroids cannot be given in this way.  In this talk, I'll introduce matroids and talk about how to find these unrealizable matroids.
Abstract: Have you every wondered how you can easily tell when two plane conics kiss (i.e. are tangent to each other at a point)? If so this talk is for you, if not, well there will be donuts.
|-
 
| bgcolor="#E0E0E0" | September 18
=== October 10, Kurt Ehlert ===
| bgcolor="#C6D46E" | Sapir Ben-Shahar
 
| bgcolor="#BCE2FE" | More on Matroids
Title: How to bet when gambling
| bgcolor="#BCE2FE" | Essentially a continuation of Jacob's talk from last week, I'll give another perspective on matroids, including talking about other ways in which we can (sometimes) represent them.
 
|-
Abstract: When gambling, typically casinos have the edge. But sometimes we can gain an edge by counting cards or other means. And sometimes we have an edge in the biggest casino of all: the financial markets. When we do have an advantage, then we still need to decide how much to bet. Bet too little, and we leave money on the table. Bet too much, and we risk financial ruin. We will discuss the "Kelly criterion", which is a betting strategy that is optimal in many senses.
| bgcolor="#E0E0E0" | September 25
 
| bgcolor="#C6D46E" | Taylor Tan
=== October 17, Bryan Oakley ===
| bgcolor="#BCE2FE" | Dispersive Equations
 
| bgcolor="#BCE2FE" | As a model case I will focus on the free Schrodinger in R and the torus and compare the different dispersive behaviors (or lack thereof).  
Title: Mixing rates
On the line, wave packet spread gives us the expected decay readily.  
 
On the tori, the story is more subtle due to constructive interference coming from the major arcs of a quadratic Weyl sum.  
Abstract: Mixing is a necessary step in many areas from biology and atmospheric sciences to smoothies. Because we are impatient, the goal is usually to improve the rate at which a substance homogenizes. In this talk we define and quantify mixing and rates of mixing. We present some history of the field as well as current research and open questions.
This is meant for a general audience, so I will try to give the intuition with pictures.  
 
|-
=== October 24, Micky Soule Steinberg ===
| bgcolor="#E0E0E0" | October 2
 
| bgcolor="#C6D46E" | Dhruv Kulshreshtha
Title: What does a group look like?
| bgcolor="#BCE2FE" | Reducing the infinite to the finite
 
| bgcolor="#BCE2FE" | Have you ever wondered how many colors are needed to color a countably infinite map? Or why statements that are satisfied by the complex numbers are also satisfied by all algebraically closed fields of sufficiently large prime characteristic?  
Abstract: In geometric group theory, we often try to understand groups by understanding the metric spaces on which the groups act geometrically. For example, Z^2 acts on R^2 in a nice way, so we can think of the group Z^2 instead as the metric space R^2.
In this talk, we will explore the Compactness Theorem, which resolves many such interesting questions! No background in logic is necessary.
 
|-
We will try to find (and draw) such a metric space for the solvable Baumslag-Solitar groups BS(1,n). Then we will briefly discuss what this geometric picture tells us about the groups.
| bgcolor="#E0E0E0" | October 9
 
| bgcolor="#C6D46E" | -
=== October 31, Sun Woo Park ===
| bgcolor="#BCE2FE" | -
 
| bgcolor="#BCE2FE" | -
Title: Induction-Restriction Operators
|-
 
| bgcolor="#E0E0E0" | October 16
Abstract: Given a "nice enough" finite descending sequence of groups <math> G_n \supsetneq G_{n-1} \supsetneq \cdots \supsetneq G_1 \supsetneq \{e\} </math>, we can play around with the relations between induced and restricted representations. We will construct a formal <math> \mathbb{Z} </math>-module of induction-restriction operators on a finite descending sequence of groups <math> \{G_i\} </math>, written as <math> IR_{\{G_i\}} </math>. The goal of the talk is to show that the formal ring <math> IR_{\{G_i\}} </math> is a commutative polynomial ring over <math> \mathbb{Z} </math>.  We will also compute the formal ring <math>IR_{\{S_n\}} </math> for a finite descending sequence of symmetric groups <math> S_n \supset S_{n-1} \supset \cdots \supset S_1 </math>. (Apart from the talk, I'll also prepare some treats in celebration of Halloween.)
| bgcolor="#C6D46E" | -
 
| bgcolor="#BCE2FE" | -
=== November 7, TBD ===
| bgcolor="#BCE2FE" | -
 
|-
Title: TBD
| bgcolor="#E0E0E0" | October 23
 
| bgcolor="#C6D46E" | -
Abstract: TBD
| bgcolor="#BCE2FE" | -
 
| bgcolor="#BCE2FE" | -
=== November 14, Soumya Sankar ===
|-
 
| bgcolor="#E0E0E0" | October 30
Title: TBD
| bgcolor="#C6D46E" | -
 
| bgcolor="#BCE2FE" | -
Abstract: TBD
| bgcolor="#BCE2FE" | -
 
|-
=== November 21, Cancelled due to Thanksgiving===
| bgcolor="#E0E0E0" | November 6
 
| bgcolor="#C6D46E" | -
Title: TBD
| bgcolor="#BCE2FE" | -
 
| bgcolor="#BCE2FE" | -
Abstract: TBD
|-
 
| bgcolor="#E0E0E0" | November 13
=== November 28, Niudun Wang ===
| bgcolor="#C6D46E" | -
 
| bgcolor="#BCE2FE" | -
Title: TBD
| bgcolor="#BCE2FE" | -
 
|-
Abstract: TBD
| bgcolor="#E0E0E0" | November 20
 
| bgcolor="#C6D46E" | Emma Hayes
=== December 5, Patrick Nicodemus ===
| bgcolor="#BCE2FE" | An Introduction to My Favorite PDE
 
| bgcolor="#BCE2FE" | TBA
Title: Applications of Algorithmic Randomness and Complexity
|-
 
| bgcolor="#E0E0E0" | November 27
Abstract: I will introduce the fascinating field of Kolmogorov Complexity and point out its applications in such varied areas as combinatorics, statistical inference and mathematical logic. In fact the Prime Number theorem, machine learning and Godel's Incompleteness theorem can all be investigated fruitfully through a wonderful common lens.
| bgcolor="#C6D46E" | THANKSGIVING
 
| bgcolor="#BCE2FE" | NONE
=== December 12, TBD ===
| bgcolor="#BCE2FE" | NONE
 
|-
Title: TBD
| bgcolor="#E0E0E0" | December 4
 
| bgcolor="#C6D46E" | -
Abstract: TBD
| bgcolor="#BCE2FE" | -
| bgcolor="#BCE2FE" | -
|}
</center>

Latest revision as of 18:33, 29 September 2025

The AMS Student Chapter Seminar (aka Donut Seminar) is an informal, graduate student seminar on a wide range of mathematical topics. The goal of the seminar is to promote community building and give graduate students an opportunity to communicate fun, accessible math to their peers in a stress-free (but not sugar-free) environment. Pastries (usually donuts) will be provided.

  • When: Thursdays 4:00-4:30pm
  • Where: Van Vleck, 9th floor lounge (unless otherwise announced)
  • Organizers: Ivan Aidun, Alex Bonat, Kaiyi Huang, Ethan Schondorf

Everyone is welcome to give a talk. To sign up, please contact one of the organizers with a title and abstract. Talks are 25 minutes long and should avoid assuming significant mathematical background beyond first-year graduate courses.

The schedule of talks from past semesters can be found here.

Fall 2025

Date Speaker Title Abstract
September 11 Jacob Wood Realizing Matroids A matroid is a combinatorial object encoding notions of "independence".  For example, given a set of vectors in a vector space, there is an associated matroid encoding which subsets of those vectors are linearly independent of one another.  A matroid arising in this way is called "realizable", but it turns out some abstract matroids cannot be given in this way.  In this talk, I'll introduce matroids and talk about how to find these unrealizable matroids.
September 18 Sapir Ben-Shahar More on Matroids Essentially a continuation of Jacob's talk from last week, I'll give another perspective on matroids, including talking about other ways in which we can (sometimes) represent them.
September 25 Taylor Tan Dispersive Equations As a model case I will focus on the free Schrodinger in R and the torus and compare the different dispersive behaviors (or lack thereof).

On the line, wave packet spread gives us the expected decay readily. On the tori, the story is more subtle due to constructive interference coming from the major arcs of a quadratic Weyl sum. This is meant for a general audience, so I will try to give the intuition with pictures.

October 2 Dhruv Kulshreshtha Reducing the infinite to the finite Have you ever wondered how many colors are needed to color a countably infinite map? Or why statements that are satisfied by the complex numbers are also satisfied by all algebraically closed fields of sufficiently large prime characteristic?

In this talk, we will explore the Compactness Theorem, which resolves many such interesting questions! No background in logic is necessary.

October 9 - - -
October 16 - - -
October 23 - - -
October 30 - - -
November 6 - - -
November 13 - - -
November 20 Emma Hayes An Introduction to My Favorite PDE TBA
November 27 THANKSGIVING NONE NONE
December 4 - - -
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