Madison Math Circle

What is it?

The UW-Madison math department organizes a series of mathematically based activities aimed at interested middle school and high school students throughout the semester. Our goal is to present fun talks that give students a taste of interesting ideas in math and science. Often, students are asked to explore related problems on their own. In the past we've had talks about plasma and weather in outer space, the way images are shaded in video games, and how credit card numbers are securely transmitted over the internet. The level of the audience can vary widely, and the speakers generally address this by considering subjects that will be interesting for a wide range of students.

After each talk we'll have pizza provided by the Mathematics Department, and students will have an opportunity to mingle and chat with the speaker and with other participants, to ask questions about some of the topics that have been discussed, and also about college, careers in science, etc.

The Madison Math circle was featured in Wisconsin State Journal: http://host.madison.com/wsj/news/local/education/local_schools/school-spotlight-madison-math-circle-gives-young-students-a-taste/article_77f5c042-0b3d-11e1-ba5f-001cc4c03286.html

Alright, I want to come!

Great!

Sign up for our email list: https://lists.math.wisc.edu/listinfo/math-circle

If you are a student, we hope you will tell other interested students about these talks, and speak with your parents or with your teacher about organizing a car pool to the UW campus (and tell us how many people are coming so we can purchase the appropriate amount of pizza!)

If you are a parent or a teacher, we hope you'll tell your students about these talks and organize a car pool to the UW (all talks take place in Ingraham Hall room 120, on the UW-Madison campus).

Parking. Parking on campus is rather limited. Here is as list of some options:

• Directly in front of Ingraham hall, 2 metered spots (25 minute max) in Lot 11 off of Observatory Drive.
• A 0.2 mile walk to Ingraham Hall via these directions, many spots (free starting 4:30pm) in Lot 26 along Observatory Drive.
• A 0.3 mile walk to Ingraham Hall via these directions, many spots (free starting 4:30pm) in Lot 34.
• A 0.2 mile walk to Ingraham Hall via these directions, 2 metered spots (25 minute max) in front of Lathrop Hall.
• A 0.3 mile walk to Ingraham Hall via these directions 6 metered spots (25 minute max) around the loop in front of Chadbourne Hall .
• For more information, see the UW-Madison Parking Info website.

Questions?

If you have any questions, suggestions for topics, or so on, just email the organizers (Lalit Jain, Dan Erman, Gheorghe Craciun, and Philip Matchett Wood): math-circle-organizers@math.wisc.edu.

Math Circle Meetings for Spring 2014

All talks are at 6pm in Ingraham Hall room 120, unless otherwise noted.

Date and RSVP links	Speaker	Topic	Link for more info
January 27, 2014	Matthew Johnston	Cancelled for weather
February 3, 2014	Daniel Ross	Encryption
February 10, 2014	Betsy Stovall	Geometric addition
February 17, 2014	Mimansa Vahia	Origami and Mathematics	Origami video
February 24, 2014	Jon Kane	Rows of Roses
March 3, 2014	Matthew Johnston	Surprising results in games of chance
March 10, 2014	Jordan Ellenberg	Why the card game Set should actually be called Line, and other comments on finite geometry	Set
March 17, 2014	NO MEETING	UW Spring Break
March 24, 2014	Reese Johnston	The Mathematics of Lying
March 31, 2014	Reese Johnston	The Mathematics of Lying, part 2
April 7, 2014	Shamgar Gurevich	Symmetries of Platonic Solids	Platonic solids
April 14, 2014	NO MEETING	MMSD Spring Break
April 21, 2014	Chris Janjigian	TBA

Abstracts

Betsy Stovall

Geometric Addition

Abstract: We will learn some neat geometric tricks for quickly and painlessly computing some surprisingly large sums.

Jon Kane

Rows of Roses

Abstract: Let’s talk about the sine and cosine functions. One does not need to use very much information about these commonly seen functions in order to understand a large number of curves which can be drawn by graphing sine and cosine in Cartesian and polar coordinates. We will see sine curves, sums of sine curves, Lissajous figures, cycloids, hypocycloids, epicyclodes, and, of course, many rows of roses.

Archived Math Circle Material

Archived Math Circle Material