Madison Math Circle: Difference between revisions

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For the site in Spanish, visit [[Math Circle de Madison]]
For the site in Spanish, visit [[Math Circle de Madison]]
=COVID-19 Update=
We will moving back to in-person talks for the remainder of the semester.
As is the university's policy, all participants must wear masks. We will make every effort to maintain social distancing where possible.
=What is a Math Circle?=
=What is a Math Circle?=
The Madison Math Circle is a weekly series of mathematically based activities aimed at interested middle school and high school students. It is an outreach program organized by the UW Math Department.  Our goal is to provide a taste of exciting ideas in math and science. In the past we've had talks about plasma and weather in outer space, video game graphics, and encryption.  In the sessions, students (and parents) are often asked to explore problems on their own, with the presenter facilitating a discussion.  The talks are independent of one another, so new students are welcome at any point.
The Madison Math Circle is a weekly series of mathematically based activities aimed at interested middle school and high school students. It is an outreach program organized by the UW Math Department.  Our goal is to provide a taste of exciting ideas in math and science. In the past we've had talks about plasma and weather in outer space, video game graphics, and encryption.  In the sessions, students (and parents) are often asked to explore problems on their own, with the presenter facilitating a discussion.  The talks are independent of one another, so new students are welcome at any point.
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[[Image: MathCircle_2.jpg|500px]] [[Image: MathCircle_4.jpg|500px]]  
[[Image: MathCircle_2.jpg|550px]] [[Image: MathCircle_4.jpg|550px]]  




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.
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 check it out]!
'''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 check it out]!


=All right, I want to come!=
=All right, I want to come!=


We have a weekly meeting, <b>Monday at 6pm in 3255 Helen C White Library</b>, during the school year. <b>New students are welcome at any point! </b> There is no fee and the talks are independent of one another, so you can just show up any week, but we ask all participants to take a moment to register by following the link below:
Our in person talks will be at, <b>Monday at 6pm in 3255 Helen C White Library</b>, during the school year. New students are welcome at any point! There is no fee and the talks are independent of one another. You can just show up any week, but we ask all participants to take a moment to register by following the link below:


  [https://uwmadison.co1.qualtrics.com/jfe/form/SV_2hmb6vtDUfRonNb '''Math Circle Registration Form''']
  [https://forms.gle/5QRTkHngWf43nmCC9 '''Math Circle Registration Form''']


All of you information is kept private, and is only used by the Madison Math Circle organizer to help run the Circle.  
All of your information is kept private, and is only used by the Madison Math Circle organizer to help run the 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. 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 3255 Helen C White Library, on the UW-Madison campus, right next to the Memorial Union).
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. 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 3255 Helen C White Library, on the UW-Madison campus, right next to the Memorial Union).




==Directions and parking==
Our meetings are held on the 3rd floor of Helen C. White Hall in room 3255.
<div class="center" style="width:auto; margin-left:auto; margin-right:auto;">
[[File: Helencwhitemap.png|400px]]</div>
'''Parking.''' Parking on campus is rather limited.  Here is as list of some options:
*There is a parking garage in the basement of Helen C. White, with an hourly rate.  Enter from Park Street.
*A 0.5 mile walk to Helen C. White Hall via [http://goo.gl/cxTzJY these directions], many spots ('''free starting 4:30pm''') [http://goo.gl/maps/Gkx1C in Lot 26 along Observatory Drive].
*A 0.3 mile walk to Helen C. White Hall via [http://goo.gl/yMJIRd these directions], many spots ('''free starting 4:30pm''') [http://goo.gl/maps/vs17X in Lot 34]. 
*A 0.3 mile walk to Helen C. White Hall via [http://goo.gl/yMJIRd these directions], 2 metered spots (25 minute max) [http://goo.gl/maps/ukTcu in front of Lathrop Hall].
*A 0.2 mile walk to Helen C. White Hall via [http://goo.gl/b8pdk2 these directions] 6 metered spots (25 minute max) around [http://goo.gl/maps/6EAnc the loop in front of Chadbourne Hall] .
*For more information, see the [http://transportation.wisc.edu/parking/parking.aspx UW-Madison Parking Info website].
==Email list==
The best way to keep up to date with the what is going is by signing up for our email list.  Send an empty email to join-mathcircle@lists.wisc.edu


==Contact the organizers==
==Spring Enhancement Workshop==
The Madison Math Circle is organized by a group of three professors and three graduate students from the [http://www.math.wisc.edu Department of Mathematics] at the UW-Madison. If you have any questions, suggestions for topics, or so on, just email the '''organizers''' [mailto:mathcircleorganizers@lists.wisc.edu here]. We are always interested in feedback!
<center>
<gallery widths=480px heights=240px mode="packed">
File:de.jpg|[https://www.math.wisc.edu/~derman/ Prof. Daniel Erman]
File:pmwood.jpg|[http://www.math.wisc.edu/~pmwood/ Prof. Phillip Matchett Wood]
File:Craciun.jpg|[http://www.math.wisc.edu/~craciun/ Prof. Gheorghe Craciun]
</gallery>


<gallery widths=500px heights=250px mode="packed">
In addition to allowing students to explore various fields of math through our talks series, our Spring Enhancement Workshop helps them hone the various skills involved in higher mathematics. The workshop, titled the Math Circle Spring Enhancement Program Workshop (SEP) will be held from Feb. 27 through May 1, on alternate Mondays from 6:00pm - 7:00pm at the UW-Madison campus. Please see our schedule below for details.
File:djbruce.jpg|[http://www.math.wisc.edu/~djbruce/ DJ Bruce]
File:Ee.jpg|[http://www.math.wisc.edu/~evaelduque/ Eva Elduque]
File:mrjulian.jpg|[http://www.math.wisc.edu/~mrjulian/ Ryan Julian]
File:soumyasankar.jpg|[http://www.math.wisc.edu/~soumyasankar Soumya Sankar]
</gallery>
</center>


==Donations==
The topics for this workshop will cover an introduction to constructing mathematical arguments and proofs, understanding how to generalise simple mathematical ideas, and learn how to discover math for one's self. We will build these skills through collaborative problem solving sessions while learning about graph theory, game theory, and other cool areas of mathematics.  
Please consider donating to the Madison Math Circle. As noted in our [https://www.math.wisc.edu/wiki/images/Math_Circle_Newsletter.pdf annual report], our main costs consist of pizza and occasional supplies for the speakers.  So far our costs have been covered by donations from the UW Mathematics Department as well as a generous gifts from a private donor. But our costs are rising, primarily because this year we expect to hold more meetings than in any previous year. In fact, this year, we expect to spend at least $2500 on pizza and supplies alone.


So please consider donating to support your math circle! The easiest way to donate is to go to the link:
We want to invite any middle school students curious about math to join! If you are interested, please register using the form below. As always, this workshop is free and only requires your curiosity and participation!


[http://www.math.wisc.edu/donate Online Donation Link]
  [https://forms.gle/EXRRCBLBHvAk1zLQ8 '''Math Circle SEP Registration Form''']


There are instructions on that page for donating to the Math Department.  <b> Be sure and add a Gift Note saying that the donation is intended for the "Madison Math Circle"!</b>  The money goes into the Mathematics Department Annual Fund and is routed through the University of Wisconsin Foundation, which is convenient for record-keeping, etc.
All your information is kept private, and is only used by the Madison Math Circle organizer to help run the Circle.


Alternately, you can bring a check to one of the Math Circle Meetings.  If you write a check, be sure to make it payable to the "WFAA" and add the note "Math Circle Donation" on the check. 
We hope to see you there!


Or you can just pay in cash, and we'll give you a receipt.
==Spring Schedule==
 
==Help us grow!==
If you like Math Circle, please help us continue to grow!  Students, parents, and teachers can help by:
*Posting our [https://www.math.wisc.edu/wiki/images/MMC_Flyer_2016.pdf '''flyer'''] at schools or anywhere that might have interested students
*Discussing the Math Circle with students, parents, teachers, administrators, and others
*Making an announcement about Math Circle at PTO meetings
*Donating to Math Circle
Contact the organizers if you have questions or your own ideas about how to help out.
 
=Meetings for Fall 2016 and Spring 2017=


<center>
<center>
Unless specified talks start at '''6pm in room 3255 of Helen C. White Library''', unless otherwise noted.


{| style="color:black; font-size:120%" border="1" cellpadding="14" cellspacing="0"
{| style="color:black; font-size:120%" border="1" cellpadding="14" cellspacing="0"
|-
|-
! colspan="3" style="background: #e8b2b2;" align="center" | Fall 2016
! colspan="4" style="background: #e8b2b2;" align="center" | Spring Schedule (see abstracts below)
|-
|-
! Date !! Speaker !! Topic
! Date !! Location and Room || Program || Speaker
|-
|-
| <span style="color:red">August 6, 2016 <br> (Click Title for Time & Location.)</span> || [https://discovery.wisc.edu/programs/saturday-science Science Saturday] || [https://www.math.wisc.edu/wiki/index.php/Madison_Math_Circle_Abstracts#August_6_2016 Game Busters]
| Feb 20th || 3255 Helen C White Library || Talks || Uri Andrews
|-
|-
| September 12, 2016 || [http://www.math.wisc.edu/~jeanluc/ Jean-Luc Thiffeault] || [https://www.math.wisc.edu/wiki/index.php/Madison_Math_Circle_Abstracts#September_12_2016 Why do my earbuds keep getting entangled?]
| Feb 27th || 3255 Helen C White Library || SEP || Math Circle Team
|-
|-
| September 19, 2016 || [http://www.math.wisc.edu/~djbruce/ DJ Bruce] || [https://www.math.wisc.edu/wiki/index.php/Madison_Math_Circle_Abstracts#September_19_2016  Is Any Knot Not the Unkont? ]
| Mar 6th || 3255 Helen C White Library || Talks || Yunting Zhang
|-
|-
| September 26, 2016 || [http://mmaguire.weebly.com/ Megan Maguire] || [https://www.math.wisc.edu/wiki/index.php/Madison_Math_Circle_Abstracts#September_26_2016  Coloring Maps]
| Mar 13th || 3255 Helen C White Library || SPRING BREAK ||
|-
|-
| October 3, 2016 || [http://www.math.wisc.edu/~zcharles/ Zach Charles] || [https://www.math.wisc.edu/wiki/index.php/Madison_Math_Circle_Abstracts#October_3_2016 1 + 1 = 10, or How does my smartphone do anything?]
| Mar 20th || 3255 Helen C White Library || SEP || Math Circle Team
|-
|-
| October 10, 2016 || [http://www.math.wisc.edu/~jkrush/ Keith Rush] || [https://www.math.wisc.edu/wiki/index.php/Madison_Math_Circle_Abstracts#October_10_2016 Randomness, determinism and approximation: a historical question]
| Mar 27th || 3255 Helen C White Library || Talks || Amy Tao
|-
|-
| October 17, 2016 || [http://www.math.wisc.edu/~pmwood/ Phillip Matchett-Wood] || [https://www.math.wisc.edu/wiki/index.php/Madison_Math_Circle_Abstracts#October_17_2016 The game of Criss-Cross]
| Apr 3rd || 3255 Helen C White Library || SEP || Math Circle Team
|-
|-
| October 24, 2016 || Ethan Biehl || [https://www.math.wisc.edu/wiki/index.php/Madison_Math_Circle_Abstracts#October_24_2016 A Chocolate Bar for Every Real Number]
| Apr 10th || 3255 Helen C White Library || Talks || Chenxi Wu
|-
|-
| October 31, 2016 || No Meeting || [https://www.math.wisc.edu/wiki/index.php/Madison_Math_Circle_Abstracts#October_31_2016 Enjoy Halloween!]
| Apr 17th || 3255 Helen C White Library || SEP || Math Circle Team
|-
|-
| November 7, 2016 || [https://www.math.wisc.edu/~pollyyu/ Polly Yu] || [https://www.math.wisc.edu/wiki/index.php/Madison_Math_Circle_Abstracts#November_7_2016 Are we there yet?]
| Apr 24th || 3255 Helen C White Library || Talks || Yuxiao Fu
|-
|-
| November 14, 2016 || [http://www.math.wisc.edu/~micky/ Micky Soule Steinberg] || [https://www.math.wisc.edu/wiki/index.php/Madison_Math_Circle_Abstracts#November_14_2016 Circles and Triangles]
| May 1st || 3255 Helen C White Library || SEP (Competition) || Math Circle Team
 
|}
 
</center>
 
== Abstract 2/20 ==
<center>
{| style="color:black; font-size:100%" table border="2" cellpadding="10" width="700" cellspacing="20"
|-
|-
| November 21, 2016 || [https://www.math.wisc.edu/~valko/ Benedek Valko] || [https://www.math.wisc.edu/wiki/index.php/Madison_Math_Circle_Abstracts#November_21_2016  Fun with hats]
| bgcolor="#e8b2b2" align="center" style="font-size:125%" | '''Uri Andrews'''
|-
|-
! colspan="3" style="background: #e8b2b2;" align="center" | Spring 2017
| bgcolor="#BDBDBD" align="center" | '''Title:  How to split an apartment'''
|-
|-
! Date !! Speaker !! Topic
| bgcolor="#BDBDBD"  | 
So you go off to college and after a year or two, you and some of your friends decide to get an apartment together. It'll be a lot of fun living with your best friends. Then move-in day comes, and you realize that everyone wants the room by the kitchen (for easy late-night snacking). You have 4 rooms and 4 people. Surely there must be some way to make everybody happy. People are willing to settle for their second-favorite room instead if maybe they pay a little less rent or do some less chores. How do you navigate this issue to make everybody happy? I'll share a way to do this based on a mathematical theorem which also explains the following fact: If you stir up a cup of hot chocolate, when the liquid has come to rest, some point in the liquid will end up in exactly the same place in the cup as before you stirred it.
 
|}                                                                       
</center>
 
== Abstract 3/6 ==
<center>
{| style="color:black; font-size:100%" table border="2" cellpadding="10" width="700" cellspacing="20"
|-
|-
|January 30, 2017 || Daniel Erman || [https://www.math.wisc.edu/wiki/index.php/Madison_Math_Circle_Abstracts#January_30_2017 The Josephus Problem]
| bgcolor="#e8b2b2" align="center" style="font-size:125%" | '''Yunting Zhang'''
|-
|-
| February 6, 2017 || Cullen McDonald || [https://www.math.wisc.edu/wiki/index.php/Madison_Math_Circle_Abstracts#February_6_2017 Building a 4-dimensional house]
| bgcolor="#BDBDBD" align="center" | '''Title:  Sequences and Induction'''
|-
|-
| February 13, 2017 || Dima Arinkin || [https://www.math.wisc.edu/wiki/index.php/Madison_Math_Circle_Abstracts#February_13_2017  Solve it with colors]
| bgcolor="#BDBDBD"  | 
I will introduce the definitions of set and sequence, and give some special sequences (such as arithmetic sequences, geometric sequences and Fibonacci sequence) and compute the sum of the first n terms of these sequences. I will then introduce the application of the Fibonacci sequence (relation to the Golden Section and "coincidence" in nature). Finally, I'll talk about induction and using induction to prove that the previous summations were correct.  
 
|}                                                                       
</center>
 
== Abstract 3/27 ==
<center>
{| style="color:black; font-size:100%" table border="2" cellpadding="10" width="700" cellspacing="20"
|-
| bgcolor="#e8b2b2" align="center" style="font-size:125%" | '''Amy Tao'''
|-
|-
| February 20, 2017 || Reese Johnston || [https://www.math.wisc.edu/wiki/index.php/Madison_Math_Circle_Abstracts#February_20_2017 Knights and Knaves]
| bgcolor="#BDBDBD"  align="center" | '''Title: Guess the number!'''
|-
|-
| February 27, 2017 || [https://www.math.wisc.edu/~jessica/ Jessica Lin] || [https://www.math.wisc.edu/wiki/index.php/Madison_Math_Circle_Abstracts#February_27_2017 The Mathematics Behind Sound]
| bgcolor="#BDBDBD"  |  
On Monday you will learn a fun number guessing game to psych your friends with. Then we'll talk about why it works and introduce a particular concept. We will then think about a couple of other problems, some of which are related and another of which looks related, but in fact is not. Here's a sampling: does every number have a (non-zero) multiple that is made of just 1's and 0's? How can you get away with fewer birthday candles?
 
|}                                                                       
</center>
 
== Abstract 4/10 ==
<center>
{| style="color:black; font-size:100%" table border="2" cellpadding="10" width="700" cellspacing="20"
|-
|-
| March 6, 2017 || Becky Eastham || [https://www.math.wisc.edu/wiki/index.php/Madison_Math_Circle_Abstracts#March_6_2017 How to Win a Brand New Car and Escape Execution with Probability]
| bgcolor="#e8b2b2" align="center" style="font-size:125%" | '''Chenxi Wu'''
|-
|-
| March 13, 2017 || Jim Brunner || [https://www.math.wisc.edu/wiki/index.php/Madison_Math_Circle_Abstracts#March_13_2017 TBD]
| bgcolor="#BDBDBD" align="center" | '''Title: Almost periodic sequences'''
|-
|-
| March 20, 2017 || No Meeting - (UW Spring Break) ||
| bgcolor="#BDBDBD"  | 
If an infinite sequence of letters is periodic, then any finite section of this sequence will reappear infinitely many times. However there are sequences with this property which is not periodic. I will show some examples of them and also how they appear in Euclidean geometry and graph theory.
 
|}                                                                       
</center>
 
== Abstract 4/24 ==
<center>
{| style="color:black; font-size:100%" table border="2" cellpadding="10" width="700" cellspacing="20"
|-
|-
| March 27, 2017 || John Wiltshire-Gordon || [https://www.math.wisc.edu/wiki/index.php/Madison_Math_Circle_Abstracts#March_27_2017 TBD]
| bgcolor="#e8b2b2" align="center" style="font-size:125%" | '''Yuxiao Fu'''
|-
|-
| April 3, 2017 || Will Mitchell || [https://www.math.wisc.edu/wiki/index.php/Madison_Math_Circle_Abstracts#April_3_2017 TBD]
| bgcolor="#BDBDBD"  align="center" | '''Title: On Propositional Logic'''
|-
|-
|}
| bgcolor="#BDBDBD"  | 
Logic is in some sense the art of thinking, for it captures the rules we rely on when we think. In this talk, I plan to provide an introduction to propositional logic, the perhaps most basic form of standard logic, and present some of its rich applications in mathematics and electrical engineering.


|}                                                                       
</center>
</center>


=High School Meetings=
==Directions and parking==


We are experimenting with holding some Math Circle meetings directly at local high schools.  Our schedule for the fall is below. If you are interesting in having us come to your high school, please contact us!
Our meetings are held on the 3rd floor of Helen C. White Hall in room 3255.


<div class="center" style="width:auto; margin-left:auto; margin-right:auto;">
[[File: Helencwhitemap.png|400px]]</div>
'''Parking.''' Parking on campus is rather limited.  Here is as list of some options:
*There is a parking garage in the basement of Helen C. White, with an hourly rate.  Enter from Park Street.
*A 0.5 mile walk to Helen C. White Hall via [http://goo.gl/cxTzJY these directions], many spots ('''free starting 4:30pm''') [http://goo.gl/maps/Gkx1C in Lot 26 along Observatory Drive].
*A 0.3 mile walk to Helen C. White Hall via [http://goo.gl/yMJIRd these directions], many spots ('''free starting 4:30pm''') [http://goo.gl/maps/vs17X in Lot 34]. 
*A 0.3 mile walk to Helen C. White Hall via [http://goo.gl/yMJIRd these directions], 2 metered spots (25 minute max) [http://goo.gl/maps/ukTcu in front of Lathrop Hall].
*A 0.2 mile walk to Helen C. White Hall via [http://goo.gl/b8pdk2 these directions] 6 metered spots (25 minute max) around [http://goo.gl/maps/6EAnc the loop in front of Chadbourne Hall] .
*For more information, see the [http://transportation.wisc.edu/parking/parking.aspx UW-Madison Parking Info website].
==Email list==
The best way to keep up to date with the what is going is by signing up for our email list. Please add your email in the form:
[https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLSe_cKMfdjMQlmJc9uZg5bZ-sjKZ2q5SV9wLb1gSddrvB1Tk1A/viewform '''Join Email List''']
==Contact the organizers==
The Madison Math Circle is organized by a group of professors and graduate students from the [http://www.math.wisc.edu Department of Mathematics] at the UW-Madison. If you have any questions, suggestions for topics, or so on, just email the '''organizers''' [mailto:mathcircleorganizers@g-groups.wisc.edu here]. We are always interested in feedback!
<center>
<center>
<gallery widths="500" heights="300" mode="packed">
File:Uri.jpg|[https://www.math.wisc.edu/~andrews/ Prof. Uri Andrews]
File:Hongyu.jpg|[https://sites.google.com/view/hongyu-zhu/ Hongyu Zhu]
File:Karthik.jpeg|Karthik Ravishankar
</gallery>


{| style="color:black; font-size:120%" border="1" cellpadding="14" cellspacing="0"
<gallery widths="500" heights="250" mode="packed">
|-
</gallery>
! colspan="5" style="background: #e8b2b2;" align="center" | Fall 2016
|-
|-
! Date !! Location !! Speaker !! Topic !! Link for more info
|-
| October 17, 2016 || 2:45pm JMM || [https://www.math.wisc.edu/~derman Daniel Erman] || [https://www.math.wisc.edu/wiki/index.php/Madison_Math_Circle_Abstracts#October_17_2016_.28JMM.29 What does math research look like?] ||
|-
| October 24, 2016 || 2:45pm West High || [https://www.math.wisc.edu/~djbruce DJ Bruce] || [https://www.math.wisc.edu/wiki/index.php/Madison_Math_Circle_Abstracts#October_24_2016_.28West.29 Shhh, This Message Is Secret] ||
|-
| October 31, 2016 || 2:45pm East High || [https://www.math.wisc.edu/~djbruce DJ Bruce] || [https://www.math.wisc.edu/wiki/index.php/Madison_Math_Circle_Abstracts#October_31_2016.28East.29 Shhh, This Message Is Secret] ||
|-
| December 5, 2016 || 2:45pm East High || [http://www.math.wisc.edu/~andrews/ Uri Andrews] || [https://www.math.wisc.edu/wiki/index.php/Madison_Math_Circle_Abstracts#December_5_2016_.28East.29 How to split an apartment]  ||
|-
| December 5, 2016 || 2:45pm JMM || [https://www.math.wisc.edu/~pmwood Phillip Matchett Wood] || [https://www.math.wisc.edu/wiki/index.php/Madison_Math_Circle_Abstracts#December_5_2016_.28JMM.29 The game of Criss-Cross] ||
|-
! colspan="5" style="background: #e8b2b2;" align="center" | Spring 2017
|-
|-
! Date !! Location !! Speaker !! Topic !! Link for more info
|-
| February 13, 2017 || 2:45pm East High || [https://www.math.wisc.edu/~evaelduque Eva Elduque] || [https://www.math.wisc.edu/wiki/index.php/Madison_Math_Circle_Abstracts#February_13_2017_.28East.29 Pick's Theorem]  ||
|-
| February 20, 2017 || 2:45pm JMM || [https://www.math.wisc.edu/~mmaguire2 Megan Maguire] || [https://www.math.wisc.edu/wiki/index.php/Madison_Math_Circle_Abstracts#February_20_2017_.28JMM.29 Coloring Maps]  ||
|-
| March 20, 2017 || 2:45pm East High || [https://www.math.wisc.edu/~djbruce DJ Bruce] ||
[https://www.math.wisc.edu/wiki/index.php/Madison_Math_Circle_Abstract#March_20_2017_.28East.29 Doodling Daydreams]  ||
|-
| April 3rd, 2017 || 2:45pm JMM || [http://www.math.wisc.edu/~pollyyu/ Polly Yu] || [https://www.math.wisc.edu/wiki/index.php/Madison_Math_Circle_Abstracts#April_3_2017_.28JMM.29 Are we there yet?]  ||
|-
| TBD || TBD || TBD || [https://www.math.wisc.edu/wiki/index.php/Madison_Math_Circle_Abstracts TBD]  ||
|-
| TBD || TBD || TBD || [https://www.math.wisc.edu/wiki/index.php/Madison_Math_Circle_Abstracts TBD]  ||
|-
| TBD || TBD || TBD || [https://www.math.wisc.edu/wiki/index.php/Madison_Math_Circle_Abstracts TBD]  ||
|-
|}
</center>
</center>
==Donations==
Please consider donating to the Madison Math Circle. Our main costs consist of pizza and occasional supplies for the speakers.  So far our costs have been covered by donations from the UW Mathematics Department as well as a generous gifts from private donors. The easiest way to donate is to go to the link:
[http://www.math.wisc.edu/donate Online Donation Link]
There are instructions on that page for donating to the Math Department.  <b> Be sure and add a Gift Note saying that the donation is intended for the "Madison Math Circle"!</b>  The money goes into the Mathematics Department Annual Fund and is routed through the University of Wisconsin Foundation, which is convenient for record-keeping, etc.
Alternately, you can bring a check to one of the Math Circle Meetings.  If you write a check, be sure to make it payable to the "WFAA" and add the note "Math Circle Donation" on the check. 
Or you can make donations in cash, and we'll give you a receipt.
==Help us grow!==
If you like Math Circle, please help us continue to grow!  Students, parents, and teachers can help by:
* Like our [https://facebook.com/madisonmathcircle '''Facebook Page'''] and share our events with others!
* Posting our [https://www.math.wisc.edu/wiki/images/Math_Circle_Flyer_2021.pdf '''flyer'''] at schools or anywhere that might have interested students.
* Discussing the Math Circle with students, parents, teachers, administrators, and others.
* Making an announcement about Math Circle at PTO meetings.
* Donating to Math Circle.
Contact the organizers if you have questions or your own ideas about how to help out.


=Useful Resources=
=Useful Resources=
==Annual Reports==
<!--==Annual Reports==
[https://www.math.wisc.edu/wiki/images/Math_Circle_Newsletter.pdf  2013-2014 Annual Report]
[https://www.math.wisc.edu/wiki/images/Math_Circle_Newsletter.pdf  2013-2014 Annual Report]-->[https://uwmadison.box.com/s/ns14iv68wv8lp4opdht2lxczu5fgi4at Fall 2022 Worksheets]


== Archived Abstracts ==
== Archived Abstracts ==
[https://www.math.wisc.edu/wiki/index.php/Madison_Math_Circle_Abstracts_2021-2022 2021 - 2022 Abstracts]
[https://www.math.wisc.edu/wiki/index.php/Madison_Math_Circle_Abstracts_2020-2021 2020 - 2021 Abstracts]
[https://www.math.wisc.edu/wiki/index.php/Madison_Math_Circle_Abstracts_2019-2020 2019 - 2020 Abstracts]
[https://www.math.wisc.edu/wiki/index.php/Madison_Math_Circle_2016-2017 2016 - 2017 Math Circle Page]
[https://www.math.wisc.edu/wiki/index.php/Madison_Math_Circle_Abstracts_2016-2017 2016 - 2017 Abstracts]
[https://www.math.wisc.edu/wiki/index.php/Madison_Math_Circle_2015-2016 2015 - 2016 Math Circle Page]
[https://www.math.wisc.edu/wiki/index.php/Madison_Math_Circle_2015-2016 2015 - 2016 Math Circle Page]


Line 203: Line 227:
[https://www.math.wisc.edu/wiki/index.php/Madison_Math_Circle_Abstracts_2015-2016 2015 - 2015 Abstracts]
[https://www.math.wisc.edu/wiki/index.php/Madison_Math_Circle_Abstracts_2015-2016 2015 - 2015 Abstracts]


[[Archived Math Circle Material]]
[https://www.math.wisc.edu/wiki/index.php/Archived_Math_Circle_Material The way-back archives]


==Link for presenters (in progress)==
==Link for presenters (in progress)==
[https://www.math.wisc.edu/wiki/index.php/Math_Circle_Presentations  Advice For Math Circle Presenters]
[https://www.math.wisc.edu/wiki/index.php/Math_Circle_Presentations  Advice For Math Circle Presenters]


[http://www.mathcircles.org/content/lesson-plans Sample Lesson Plans]
[http://www.geometer.org/mathcircles/ Sample Talk Ideas/Problems from Tom Davis]
 
[https://www.mathcircles.org/activities Sample Talks from the National Association of Math Circles]


[http://www.mathcircles.org/content/circle-box "Circle in a Box"]
[https://epdf.pub/circle-in-a-box715623b97664e247f2118ddf7bec4bfa35437.html "Circle in a Box"]

Latest revision as of 00:15, 21 April 2023

Logo.png

For the site in Spanish, visit Math Circle de Madison

COVID-19 Update

We will moving back to in-person talks for the remainder of the semester.

As is the university's policy, all participants must wear masks. We will make every effort to maintain social distancing where possible.

What is a Math Circle?

The Madison Math Circle is a weekly series of mathematically based activities aimed at interested middle school and high school students. It is an outreach program organized by the UW Math Department. Our goal is to provide a taste of exciting ideas in math and science. In the past we've had talks about plasma and weather in outer space, video game graphics, and encryption. In the sessions, students (and parents) are often asked to explore problems on their own, with the presenter facilitating a discussion. The talks are independent of one another, so new students are welcome at any point.

The level of the audience varies quite widely, including a mix of middle school and high school students, and the speakers generally address this by considering subjects that will be interesting for a wide range of students.


MathCircle 2.jpg MathCircle 4.jpg


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: check it out!

All right, I want to come!

Our in person talks will be at, Monday at 6pm in 3255 Helen C White Library, during the school year. New students are welcome at any point! There is no fee and the talks are independent of one another. You can just show up any week, but we ask all participants to take a moment to register by following the link below: 

Math Circle Registration Form

All of your information is kept private, and is only used by the Madison Math Circle organizer to help run the 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. 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 3255 Helen C White Library, on the UW-Madison campus, right next to the Memorial Union).


Spring Enhancement Workshop

In addition to allowing students to explore various fields of math through our talks series, our Spring Enhancement Workshop helps them hone the various skills involved in higher mathematics. The workshop, titled the Math Circle Spring Enhancement Program Workshop (SEP) will be held from Feb. 27 through May 1, on alternate Mondays from 6:00pm - 7:00pm at the UW-Madison campus. Please see our schedule below for details.

The topics for this workshop will cover an introduction to constructing mathematical arguments and proofs, understanding how to generalise simple mathematical ideas, and learn how to discover math for one's self. We will build these skills through collaborative problem solving sessions while learning about graph theory, game theory, and other cool areas of mathematics.

We want to invite any middle school students curious about math to join! If you are interested, please register using the form below. As always, this workshop is free and only requires your curiosity and participation! 

  Math Circle SEP Registration Form

All your information is kept private, and is only used by the Madison Math Circle organizer to help run the Circle.

We hope to see you there!

Spring Schedule

Spring Schedule (see abstracts below)
Date Location and Room Program Speaker
Feb 20th 3255 Helen C White Library Talks Uri Andrews
Feb 27th 3255 Helen C White Library SEP Math Circle Team
Mar 6th 3255 Helen C White Library Talks Yunting Zhang
Mar 13th 3255 Helen C White Library SPRING BREAK
Mar 20th 3255 Helen C White Library SEP Math Circle Team
Mar 27th 3255 Helen C White Library Talks Amy Tao
Apr 3rd 3255 Helen C White Library SEP Math Circle Team
Apr 10th 3255 Helen C White Library Talks Chenxi Wu
Apr 17th 3255 Helen C White Library SEP Math Circle Team
Apr 24th 3255 Helen C White Library Talks Yuxiao Fu
May 1st 3255 Helen C White Library SEP (Competition) Math Circle Team

Abstract 2/20

Uri Andrews
Title: How to split an apartment

So you go off to college and after a year or two, you and some of your friends decide to get an apartment together. It'll be a lot of fun living with your best friends. Then move-in day comes, and you realize that everyone wants the room by the kitchen (for easy late-night snacking). You have 4 rooms and 4 people. Surely there must be some way to make everybody happy. People are willing to settle for their second-favorite room instead if maybe they pay a little less rent or do some less chores. How do you navigate this issue to make everybody happy? I'll share a way to do this based on a mathematical theorem which also explains the following fact: If you stir up a cup of hot chocolate, when the liquid has come to rest, some point in the liquid will end up in exactly the same place in the cup as before you stirred it.

Abstract 3/6

Yunting Zhang
Title: Sequences and Induction

I will introduce the definitions of set and sequence, and give some special sequences (such as arithmetic sequences, geometric sequences and Fibonacci sequence) and compute the sum of the first n terms of these sequences. I will then introduce the application of the Fibonacci sequence (relation to the Golden Section and "coincidence" in nature). Finally, I'll talk about induction and using induction to prove that the previous summations were correct.

Abstract 3/27

Amy Tao
Title: Guess the number!

On Monday you will learn a fun number guessing game to psych your friends with. Then we'll talk about why it works and introduce a particular concept. We will then think about a couple of other problems, some of which are related and another of which looks related, but in fact is not. Here's a sampling: does every number have a (non-zero) multiple that is made of just 1's and 0's? How can you get away with fewer birthday candles?

Abstract 4/10

Chenxi Wu
Title: Almost periodic sequences

If an infinite sequence of letters is periodic, then any finite section of this sequence will reappear infinitely many times. However there are sequences with this property which is not periodic. I will show some examples of them and also how they appear in Euclidean geometry and graph theory.

Abstract 4/24

Yuxiao Fu
Title: On Propositional Logic

Logic is in some sense the art of thinking, for it captures the rules we rely on when we think. In this talk, I plan to provide an introduction to propositional logic, the perhaps most basic form of standard logic, and present some of its rich applications in mathematics and electrical engineering.

Directions and parking

Our meetings are held on the 3rd floor of Helen C. White Hall in room 3255.

Helencwhitemap.png

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

Email list

The best way to keep up to date with the what is going is by signing up for our email list. Please add your email in the form: Join Email List

Contact the organizers

The Madison Math Circle is organized by a group of professors and graduate students from the Department of Mathematics at the UW-Madison. If you have any questions, suggestions for topics, or so on, just email the organizers here. We are always interested in feedback!

Donations

Please consider donating to the Madison Math Circle. Our main costs consist of pizza and occasional supplies for the speakers. So far our costs have been covered by donations from the UW Mathematics Department as well as a generous gifts from private donors. The easiest way to donate is to go to the link:

Online Donation Link

There are instructions on that page for donating to the Math Department. Be sure and add a Gift Note saying that the donation is intended for the "Madison Math Circle"! The money goes into the Mathematics Department Annual Fund and is routed through the University of Wisconsin Foundation, which is convenient for record-keeping, etc.

Alternately, you can bring a check to one of the Math Circle Meetings. If you write a check, be sure to make it payable to the "WFAA" and add the note "Math Circle Donation" on the check.

Or you can make donations in cash, and we'll give you a receipt.

Help us grow!

If you like Math Circle, please help us continue to grow! Students, parents, and teachers can help by:

  • Like our Facebook Page and share our events with others!
  • Posting our flyer at schools or anywhere that might have interested students.
  • Discussing the Math Circle with students, parents, teachers, administrators, and others.
  • Making an announcement about Math Circle at PTO meetings.
  • Donating to Math Circle.

Contact the organizers if you have questions or your own ideas about how to help out.

Useful Resources

Fall 2022 Worksheets

Archived Abstracts

2021 - 2022 Abstracts

2020 - 2021 Abstracts

2019 - 2020 Abstracts

2016 - 2017 Math Circle Page

2016 - 2017 Abstracts

2015 - 2016 Math Circle Page

2015 - 2016 Math Circle Page (Spanish)

2015 - 2015 Abstracts

The way-back archives

Link for presenters (in progress)

Advice For Math Circle Presenters

Sample Talk Ideas/Problems from Tom Davis

Sample Talks from the National Association of Math Circles

"Circle in a Box"

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