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The AMS Student Chapter Seminar is an informal, graduate student 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]].


== Spring 2019 ==
== Fall 2025 ==


=== February 6, Xiao Shen (in VV B139)===
<center>
 
{| cellspacing="5" cellpadding="14" border="0" style="color:black; font-size:120%"
Title: Limit Shape in last passage percolation
|-
 
| align="center" width="200" bgcolor="#D0D0D0" |'''Date'''
Abstract: Imagine the following situation, attached to each point on the integer lattice Z^2 there is an arbitrary amount of donuts. Fix x and y in Z^2, if you get to eat all the donuts along an up-right path between these two points, what would be the maximum amount of donuts you can get? This model is often called last passage percolation, and I will discuss a classical result about its scaling limit: what happens if we zoom out and let the distance between x and y tend to infinity.
| align="center" width="200" bgcolor="#A6B658" |'''Speaker'''
 
| align="center" width="300" bgcolor="#BCD2EE" |'''Title'''
=== February 13, Michel Alexis (in VV B139)===
| align="center" width="400" bgcolor="#BCD2EE" |'''Abstract'''
 
|-
Title: An instructive yet useless theorem about random Fourier Series
| bgcolor="#E0E0E0" | September 11
 
| bgcolor="#C6D46E" | Jacob Wood
Abstract: Consider a Fourier series with random, symmetric, independent coefficients. With what probability is this the Fourier series of a continuous function? An <math>L^{p}</math> function? A surprising result is the Billard theorem, which says such a series results almost surely from an <math>L^{\infty}</math> function if and only if it results almost surely from a continuous function. Although the theorem in of itself is kind of useless in of itself, its proof is instructive in that we will see how, via the principle of reduction, one can usually just pretend all symmetric random variables are just coin flips (Bernoulli trials with outcomes <math>\pm 1</math>).
| 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.
=== February 20, Geoff Bentsen ===
|-
 
| bgcolor="#E0E0E0" | September 18
Title: An Analyst Wanders into a Topology Conference
| bgcolor="#C6D46E" | Sapir Ben-Shahar
 
| bgcolor="#BCE2FE" | More on Matroids
Abstract: Fourier Restriction is a big open problem in Harmonic Analysis; given a "small" subset <math>E</math> of <math>R^d</math>, can we restrict the Fourier transform of an <math>L^p</math> function to <math>E</math> and retain any information about our original function? This problem has a nice (somewhat) complete solution for smooth manifolds of co-dimension one. I will explore how to start generalizing this result to smooth manifolds of higher co-dimension, and how a topology paper from the 60s about the hairy ball problem came in handy along the way.
| 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.
 
|-
=== February 27, James Hanson ===
| bgcolor="#E0E0E0" | September 25
 
| bgcolor="#C6D46E" | Taylor Tan
Title: What is...a Topometric Space?
| 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).  
Abstract: Continuous first-order logic is a generalization of first-order logic that is well suited for the study of structures with a natural metric, such as Banach spaces and probability algebras. Topometric spaces are a simple generalization of topological and metric spaces that arise in the study of continuous first-order logic. I will discuss certain topological issues that show up in topometric spaces coming from continuous logic, as well as some partial solutions and open problems. No knowledge of logic will be required for or gained from attending the talk.
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.  
=== March 6, Working Group to establish an Association of Mathematics Graduate Students ===
This is meant for a general audience, so I will try to give the intuition with pictures.  
 
|-
Title: Introducing GRAMS (Graduate Representative Association of Mathematics Students)
| bgcolor="#E0E0E0" | October 2
 
| bgcolor="#C6D46E" | Dhruv Kulshreshtha
Abstract: Over the past couple months, a handful of us have been working to create the UW Graduate Representative Association of Mathematics Students (GRAMS). This group, about 5-8 students, is intended to be a liaison between the graduate students and faculty, especially in relation to departmental policies and decisions that affect graduate students. We will discuss what we believe GRAMS ought to look like and the steps needed to implement such a vision, then open up the floor to a Q&A. Check out our [http://sites.google.com/wisc.edu/grams/home website] for more information.
| 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?  
=== March 13, Connor Simpson ===
In this talk, we will explore the Compactness Theorem, which resolves many such interesting questions! No background in logic is necessary.
 
|-
Title: Counting faces of polytopes with algebra
| bgcolor="#E0E0E0" | October 9
 
| bgcolor="#C6D46E" | -
Abstract: A natural question is: with a fixed dimension and number of vertices, what is the largest number of d-dimensional faces that a polytope can have? We will outline a proof of the answer to this question.
| bgcolor="#BCE2FE" | -
 
| bgcolor="#BCE2FE" | -
=== March 26 (Prospective Student Visit Day), Multiple Speakers ===
|-
 
| bgcolor="#E0E0E0" | October 16
====Eva Elduque====
| bgcolor="#C6D46E" | -
 
| bgcolor="#BCE2FE" | -
Title: TBD
| bgcolor="#BCE2FE" | -
 
|-
Abstract: TBD
| bgcolor="#E0E0E0" | October 23
 
| bgcolor="#C6D46E" | -
====Rajula Srivastava====
| bgcolor="#BCE2FE" | -
 
| bgcolor="#BCE2FE" | -
Title: TBD
|-
 
| bgcolor="#E0E0E0" | October 30
Abstract: TBD
| bgcolor="#C6D46E" | -
 
| bgcolor="#BCE2FE" | -
====Soumya Sankar====
| bgcolor="#BCE2FE" | -
 
|-
Title: TBD
| bgcolor="#E0E0E0" | November 6
 
| bgcolor="#C6D46E" | -
Abstract: TBD
| bgcolor="#BCE2FE" | -
 
| bgcolor="#BCE2FE" | -
====Ivan Ongay Valverde====
|-
 
| bgcolor="#E0E0E0" | November 13
Title: TBD
| bgcolor="#C6D46E" | -
 
| bgcolor="#BCE2FE" | -
Abstract: TBD
| bgcolor="#BCE2FE" | -
 
|-
====Sun Woo Park====
| bgcolor="#E0E0E0" | November 20
 
| bgcolor="#C6D46E" | Emma Hayes
Title: TBD
| bgcolor="#BCE2FE" | An Introduction to My Favorite PDE
 
| bgcolor="#BCE2FE" | TBA
Abstract: TBD
|-
 
| bgcolor="#E0E0E0" | November 27
====Chun Gan====
| bgcolor="#C6D46E" | THANKSGIVING
 
| bgcolor="#BCE2FE" | NONE
Title: TBD
| bgcolor="#BCE2FE" | NONE
 
|-
Abstract: TBD
| bgcolor="#E0E0E0" | December 4
 
| bgcolor="#C6D46E" | -
====Jenny Yeon====
| bgcolor="#BCE2FE" | -
 
| bgcolor="#BCE2FE" | -
Title: TBD
|}
 
</center>
Abstract: TBD
 
====[Insert Speaker]====
 
Title: TBD
 
Abstract: TBD
 
====[Insert Speaker]====
 
Title: TBD
 
Abstract: TBD
 
=== April 3, Yu Feng ===
 
Title: TBD
 
Abstract: TBD
 
=== April 10, Brandon Boggess ===
 
Title: TBD
 
Abstract: TBD
 
=== April 17, Hyun-Jong ===
 
Title: TBD
 
Abstract: TBD
 
=== April 24, Carrie Chen ===
 
Title: TBD
 
Abstract: TBD

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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