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A MATHEMATICIAN's SURVIVAL GUIDE 1. an Algebra Teacher I
A MATHEMATICIAN’S SURVIVAL GUIDE PETER G. CASAZZA 1. An Algebra Teacher I could Understand Emmy award-winning journalist and bestselling author Cokie Roberts once said: As long as algebra is taught in school, there will be prayer in school. 1.1. An Object of Pride. Mathematician’s relationship with the general public most closely resembles “bipolar” disorder - at the same time they admire us and hate us. Almost everyone has had at least one bad experience with mathematics during some part of their education. Get into any taxi and tell the driver you are a mathematician and the response is predictable. First, there is silence while the driver relives his greatest nightmare - taking algebra. Next, you will hear the immortal words: “I was never any good at mathematics.” My response is: “I was never any good at being a taxi driver so I went into mathematics.” You can learn a lot from taxi drivers if you just don’t tell them you are a mathematician. Why get started on the wrong foot? The mathematician David Mumford put it: “I am accustomed, as a professional mathematician, to living in a sort of vacuum, surrounded by people who declare with an odd sort of pride that they are mathematically illiterate.” 1.2. A Balancing Act. The other most common response we get from the public is: “I can’t even balance my checkbook.” This reflects the fact that the public thinks that mathematics is basically just adding numbers. They have no idea what we really do. Because of the textbooks they studied, they think that all needed mathematics has already been discovered. -
TWAS Fellowships Worldwide
CDC Round Table, ICTP April 2016 With science and engineering, countries can address challenges in agriculture, climate, health TWAS’s and energy. guiding principles 2 Food security Challenges Water quality for a Energy security new era Biodiversity loss Infectious diseases Climate change 3 A Globally, 81 nations fall troubling into the category of S&T- gap lagging countries. 48 are classified as Least Developed Countries. 4 The role of TWAS The day-to-day work of TWAS is focused in two critical areas: •Improving research infrastructure •Building a corps of PhD scholars 5 TWAS Research Grants 2,202 grants awarded to individuals and research groups (1986-2015) 6 TWAS’ AIM: to train 1000 PhD students by 2017 Training PhD-level scientists: •Researchers and university-level educators •Future leaders for science policy, business and international cooperation Rapidly growing opportunities P BRAZIL A K I N D I CA I RI A S AF TH T SOU A N M KENYA EX ICO C H I MALAYSIA N A IRAN THAILAND TWAS Fellowships Worldwide NRF, South Africa - newly on board 650+ fellowships per year PhD fellowships +460 Postdoctoral fellowships +150 Visiting researchers/professors + 45 17 Programme Partners BRAZIL: CNPq - National Council MALAYSIA: UPM – Universiti for Scientific and Technological Putra Malaysia WorldwideDevelopment CHINA: CAS - Chinese Academy of KENYA: icipe – International Sciences Centre for Insect Physiology and Ecology INDIA: CSIR - Council of Scientific MEXICO: CONACYT– National & Industrial Research Council on Science and Technology PAKISTAN: CEMB – National INDIA: DBT - Department of Centre of Excellence in Molecular Biotechnology Biology PAKISTAN: ICCBS – International Centre for Chemical and INDIA: IACS - Indian Association Biological Sciences for the Cultivation of Science PAKISTAN: CIIT – COMSATS Institute of Information INDIA: S.N. -
Millennium Prize for the Poincaré
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE • March 18, 2010 Press contact: James Carlson: [email protected]; 617-852-7490 See also the Clay Mathematics Institute website: • The Poincaré conjecture and Dr. Perelmanʼs work: http://www.claymath.org/poincare • The Millennium Prizes: http://www.claymath.org/millennium/ • Full text: http://www.claymath.org/poincare/millenniumprize.pdf First Clay Mathematics Institute Millennium Prize Announced Today Prize for Resolution of the Poincaré Conjecture a Awarded to Dr. Grigoriy Perelman The Clay Mathematics Institute (CMI) announces today that Dr. Grigoriy Perelman of St. Petersburg, Russia, is the recipient of the Millennium Prize for resolution of the Poincaré conjecture. The citation for the award reads: The Clay Mathematics Institute hereby awards the Millennium Prize for resolution of the Poincaré conjecture to Grigoriy Perelman. The Poincaré conjecture is one of the seven Millennium Prize Problems established by CMI in 2000. The Prizes were conceived to record some of the most difficult problems with which mathematicians were grappling at the turn of the second millennium; to elevate in the consciousness of the general public the fact that in mathematics, the frontier is still open and abounds in important unsolved problems; to emphasize the importance of working towards a solution of the deepest, most difficult problems; and to recognize achievement in mathematics of historical magnitude. The award of the Millennium Prize to Dr. Perelman was made in accord with their governing rules: recommendation first by a Special Advisory Committee (Simon Donaldson, David Gabai, Mikhail Gromov, Terence Tao, and Andrew Wiles), then by the CMI Scientific Advisory Board (James Carlson, Simon Donaldson, Gregory Margulis, Richard Melrose, Yum-Tong Siu, and Andrew Wiles), with final decision by the Board of Directors (Landon T. -
2012-13 Annual Report of Private Giving
MAKING THE EXTRAORDINARY POSSIBLE 2012–13 ANNUAL REPORT OF PRIVATE GIVING 2 0 1 2–13 ANNUAL REPORT OF PRIVATE GIVING “Whether you’ve been a donor to UMaine for years or CONTENTS have just made your first gift, I thank you for your Letter from President Paul Ferguson 2 Fundraising Partners 4 thoughtfulness and invite you to join us in a journey Letter from Jeffery Mills and Eric Rolfson 4 that promises ‘Blue Skies ahead.’ ” President Paul W. Ferguson M A K I N G T H E Campaign Maine at a Glance 6 EXTRAORDINARY 2013 Endowments/Holdings 8 Ways of Giving 38 POSSIBLE Giving Societies 40 2013 Donors 42 BLUE SKIES AHEAD SINCE GRACE, JENNY AND I a common theme: making life better student access, it is donors like you arrived at UMaine just over two years for others — specifically for our who hold the real keys to the ago, we have truly enjoyed our students and the state we serve. While University of Maine’s future level interactions with many alumni and I’ve enjoyed many high points in my of excellence. friends who genuinely care about this personal and professional life, nothing remarkable university. Events like the surpasses the sense of reward and Unrestricted gifts that provide us the Stillwater Society dinner and the accomplishment that accompanies maximum flexibility to move forward Charles F. Allen Legacy Society assisting others to fulfill their are one of these keys. We also are luncheon have allowed us to meet and potential. counting on benefactors to champion thank hundreds of donors. -
Sir Andrew J. Wiles
ISSN 0002-9920 (print) ISSN 1088-9477 (online) of the American Mathematical Society March 2017 Volume 64, Number 3 Women's History Month Ad Honorem Sir Andrew J. Wiles page 197 2018 Leroy P. Steele Prize: Call for Nominations page 195 Interview with New AMS President Kenneth A. Ribet page 229 New York Meeting page 291 Sir Andrew J. Wiles, 2016 Abel Laureate. “The definition of a good mathematical problem is the mathematics it generates rather Notices than the problem itself.” of the American Mathematical Society March 2017 FEATURES 197 239229 26239 Ad Honorem Sir Andrew J. Interview with New The Graduate Student Wiles AMS President Kenneth Section Interview with Abel Laureate Sir A. Ribet Interview with Ryan Haskett Andrew J. Wiles by Martin Raussen and by Alexander Diaz-Lopez Allyn Jackson Christian Skau WHAT IS...an Elliptic Curve? Andrew Wiles's Marvelous Proof by by Harris B. Daniels and Álvaro Henri Darmon Lozano-Robledo The Mathematical Works of Andrew Wiles by Christopher Skinner In this issue we honor Sir Andrew J. Wiles, prover of Fermat's Last Theorem, recipient of the 2016 Abel Prize, and star of the NOVA video The Proof. We've got the official interview, reprinted from the newsletter of our friends in the European Mathematical Society; "Andrew Wiles's Marvelous Proof" by Henri Darmon; and a collection of articles on "The Mathematical Works of Andrew Wiles" assembled by guest editor Christopher Skinner. We welcome the new AMS president, Ken Ribet (another star of The Proof). Marcelo Viana, Director of IMPA in Rio, describes "Math in Brazil" on the eve of the upcoming IMO and ICM. -
PRESENTAZIONE E LAUDATIO DI DAVID MUMFOD by ALBERTO
PRESENTAZIONE E LAUDATIO DI DAVID MUMFOD by ALBERTO CONTE David Mumford was born in 1937 in Worth (West Sussex, UK) in an old English farm house. His father, William Mumford, was British, ... a visionary with an international perspective, who started an experimental school in Tanzania based on the idea of appropriate technology... Mumford's father worked for the United Nations from its foundations in 1945 and this was his job while Mumford was growing up. Mumford's mother was American and the family lived on Long Island Sound in the United States, a semi-enclosed arm of the North Atlantic Ocean with the New York- Connecticut shore on the north and Long Island to the south. After attending Exeter School, Mumford entered Harvard University. After graduating from Harvard, Mumford was appointed to the staff there. He was appointed professor of mathematics in 1967 and, ten years later, he became Higgins Professor. He was chairman of the Mathematics Department at Harvard from 1981 to 1984 and MacArthur Fellow from 1987 to 1992. In 1996 Mumford moved to the Division of Applied Mathematics of Brown University where he is now Professor Emeritus. Mumford has received many honours for his scientific work. First of all, the Fields Medal (1974), the highest distinction for a mathematician. He was awarded the Shaw Prize in 2006, the Steele Prize for Mathematical Exposition by the American Mathematical Society in 2007, and the Wolf Prize in 2008. Upon receiving this award from the hands of Israeli President Shimon Peres he announced that he will donate the money to Bir Zeit University, near Ramallah, and to Gisha, an Israeli organization that advocates for Palestinian freedom of movement, by saying: I decided to donate my share of the Wolf Prize to enable the academic community in occupied Palestine to survive and thrive. -
Density of Algebraic Points on Noetherian Varieties 3
DENSITY OF ALGEBRAIC POINTS ON NOETHERIAN VARIETIES GAL BINYAMINI Abstract. Let Ω ⊂ Rn be a relatively compact domain. A finite collection of real-valued functions on Ω is called a Noetherian chain if the partial derivatives of each function are expressible as polynomials in the functions. A Noether- ian function is a polynomial combination of elements of a Noetherian chain. We introduce Noetherian parameters (degrees, size of the coefficients) which measure the complexity of a Noetherian chain. Our main result is an explicit form of the Pila-Wilkie theorem for sets defined using Noetherian equalities and inequalities: for any ε> 0, the number of points of height H in the tran- scendental part of the set is at most C ·Hε where C can be explicitly estimated from the Noetherian parameters and ε. We show that many functions of interest in arithmetic geometry fall within the Noetherian class, including elliptic and abelian functions, modular func- tions and universal covers of compact Riemann surfaces, Jacobi theta func- tions, periods of algebraic integrals, and the uniformizing map of the Siegel modular variety Ag . We thus effectivize the (geometric side of) Pila-Zannier strategy for unlikely intersections in those instances that involve only compact domains. 1. Introduction 1.1. The (real) Noetherian class. Let ΩR ⊂ Rn be a bounded domain, and n denote by x := (x1,...,xn) a system of coordinates on R . A collection of analytic ℓ functions φ := (φ1,...,φℓ): Ω¯ R → R is called a (complex) real Noetherian chain if it satisfies an overdetermined system of algebraic partial differential equations, i =1,...,ℓ ∂φi = Pi,j (x, φ), (1) ∂xj j =1,...,n where P are polynomials. -
Economic Perspectives
The Journal of The Journal of Economic Perspectives Economic Perspectives The Journal of Fall 2016, Volume 30, Number 4 Economic Perspectives Symposia Immigration and Labor Markets Giovanni Peri, “Immigrants, Productivity, and Labor Markets” Christian Dustmann, Uta Schönberg, and Jan Stuhler, “The Impact of Immigration: Why Do Studies Reach Such Different Results?” Gordon Hanson and Craig McIntosh, “Is the Mediterranean the New Rio Grande? US and EU Immigration Pressures in the Long Run” Sari Pekkala Kerr, William Kerr, Çag˘lar Özden, and Christopher Parsons, “Global Talent Flows” A journal of the American Economic Association What is Happening in Game Theory? Larry Samuelson, “Game Theory in Economics and Beyond” Vincent P. Crawford, “New Directions for Modelling Strategic Behavior: 30, Number 4 Fall 2016 Volume Game-Theoretic Models of Communication, Coordination, and Cooperation in Economic Relationships” Drew Fudenberg and David K. Levine, “Whither Game Theory? Towards a Theory of Learning in Games” Articles Dave Donaldson and Adam Storeygard, “The View from Above: Applications of Satellite Data in Economics” Robert M. Townsend, “Village and Larger Economies: The Theory and Measurement of the Townsend Thai Project” Amanda Bayer and Cecilia Elena Rouse, “Diversity in the Economics Profession: A New Attack on an Old Problem” Recommendations for Further Reading Fall 2016 The American Economic Association The Journal of Correspondence relating to advertising, busi- Founded in 1885 ness matters, permission to quote, or change Economic Perspectives of address should be sent to the AEA business EXECUTIVE COMMITTEE office: [email protected]. Street ad- dress: American Economic Association, 2014 Elected Officers and Members A journal of the American Economic Association Broadway, Suite 305, Nashville, TN 37203. -
Download PDF of Summer 2016 Colloquy
Nonprofit Organization summer 2016 US Postage HONORING EXCELLENCE p.20 ONE DAY IN MAY p.24 PAID North Reading, MA Permit No.8 What’s the BUZZ? Bees, behavior & pollination p.12 What’s the Buzz? 12 Bees, Behavior, and Pollination ONE GRADUATE STUDENT’S INVESTIGATION INTO BUMBLEBEE BEHAVIOR The 2016 Centennial Medalists 20 HONORING FRANCIS FUKUYAMA, DAVID MUMFORD, JOHN O’MALLEY, AND CECILIA ROUSE Intellectual Assembly 22 ALUMNI DAY 2016 One Day in May 24 COMMENCEMENT 2016 summer/16 An alumni publication of Harvard University’s Graduate School of Arts and Sciences 3 FROM UNIVERSITY HALL 4 NEWS & NOTES Harvard Horizons, Health Policy turns 25, new Alumni Council leadership. 8 Q&A WITH COLLEEN CAVANAUGH A path-breaking biologist provides new evolutionary insights. 10 SHELF LIFE Elephants, Manchuria, the Uyghur nation and more. 26 NOTED News from our alumni. 28 ALUMNI CONNECTIONS Dudley 25th, Life Lab launches, and recent graduates gathering. summer Cover Image: Patrick Hruby Facing Image: Commencement Begins /16 Photograph by Tony Rinaldo CONTRIBUTORS Xiao-Li Meng dean, PhD ’90 Jon Petitt director of alumni relations and publications Patrick Hruby is a Los Angeles–based Ann Hall editor freelance illustrator and designer with Visual Dialogue design an insatiable appetite for color. His work Colloquy is published three times a year by the Graduate School Alumni has appeared in The New York Times, Association (GSAA). Governed by its Alumni Council, the GSAA represents Fortune Magazine, and WIRED, among and advances the interests of alumni of the Graduate School of Arts and Sciences through alumni events and publications. others. -
A View from the Bridge Natalie Paquette
INFERENCE / Vol. 3, No. 4 A View from the Bridge Natalie Paquette tring theory is a quantum theory of gravity.1 Albert example, supersymmetric theories require particles to Einstein’s theory of general relativity emerges natu- come in pairs. For every bosonic particle there is a fermi- rally from its equations.2 The result is consistent in onic superpartner. Sthe sense that its calculations do not diverge to infinity. Supersymmetric field theory has a disheartening String theory may well be the only consistent quantum impediment. Suppose that a supersymmetric quantum theory of gravity. If true, this would be a considerable field theory is defined on a generic curved manifold. The virtue. Whether it is true or not, string theory is indis- Euclidean metric of Newtonian physics and the Lorentz putably the source of profound ideas in mathematics.3 metric of special relativity are replaced by the manifold’s This is distinctly odd. A line of influence has always run own metric. Supercharges correspond to conserved Killing from mathematics to physics. When Einstein struggled spinors. Solutions to the Killing spinor equations are plen- to express general relativity, he found the tools that he tiful in a flat space, but the equations become extremely needed had been created sixty years before by Bernhard restrictive on curved manifolds. They are so restrictive Riemann. The example is typical. Mathematicians discov- that they have, in general, no solutions. Promoting a flat ered group theory long before physicists began using it. In supersymmetric field theory to a generic curved mani- the case of string theory, it is often the other way around. -
1. GIT and Μ-GIT
1. GIT and µ-GIT Valentina Georgoulas Joel W. Robbin Dietmar A. Salamon ETH Z¨urich UW Madison ETH Z¨urich Dietmar did the heavy lifting; Valentina and I made him explain it to us. • A key idea comes from Xiuxiong Chen and Song Sun; they were doing an • analogous infinite dimensional problem. I learned a lot from Sean. • The 1994 edition of Mumford’s book lists 926 items in the bibliography; I • have read fewer than 900 of them. Dietmar will talk in the Geometric Analysis Seminar next Monday. • Follow the talk on your cell phone. • Calc II example of GIT: conics, eccentricity, major axis. • Many important problems in geometry can be reduced to a partial differential equation of the form µ(x)=0, where x ranges over a complexified group orbit in an infinite dimensional sym- plectic manifold X and µ : X g is an associated moment map. Here we study the finite dimensional version.→ Because we want to gain intuition for the infinite dimensional problems, our treatment avoids the structure theory of compact groups. We also generalize from projective manifolds (GIT) to K¨ahler manifolds (µ-GIT). In GIT you start with (X, J, G) and try to find Y with R(Y ) R(X)G. • ≃ In µ-GIT you start with (X,ω,G) and try to solve µ(x) = 0. • GIT = µ-GIT + rationality. • The idea is to find analogs of the GIT definitions for K¨ahler manifolds, show that the µ-GIT definitions and the GIT definitions agree for projective manifolds, and prove the analogs of the GIT theorems in the K¨ahler case. -
The Legacy of Norbert Wiener: a Centennial Symposium
http://dx.doi.org/10.1090/pspum/060 Selected Titles in This Series 60 David Jerison, I. M. Singer, and Daniel W. Stroock, Editors, The legacy of Norbert Wiener: A centennial symposium (Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge, October 1994) 59 William Arveson, Thomas Branson, and Irving Segal, Editors, Quantization, nonlinear partial differential equations, and operator algebra (Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge, June 1994) 58 Bill Jacob and Alex Rosenberg, Editors, K-theory and algebraic geometry: Connections with quadratic forms and division algebras (University of California, Santa Barbara, July 1992) 57 Michael C. Cranston and Mark A. Pinsky, Editors, Stochastic analysis (Cornell University, Ithaca, July 1993) 56 William J. Haboush and Brian J. Parshall, Editors, Algebraic groups and their generalizations (Pennsylvania State University, University Park, July 1991) 55 Uwe Jannsen, Steven L. Kleiman, and Jean-Pierre Serre, Editors, Motives (University of Washington, Seattle, July/August 1991) 54 Robert Greene and S. T. Yau, Editors, Differential geometry (University of California, Los Angeles, July 1990) 53 James A. Carlson, C. Herbert Clemens, and David R. Morrison, Editors, Complex geometry and Lie theory (Sundance, Utah, May 1989) 52 Eric Bedford, John P. D'Angelo, Robert E. Greene, and Steven G. Krantz, Editors, Several complex variables and complex geometry (University of California, Santa Cruz, July 1989) 51 William B. Arveson and Ronald G. Douglas, Editors, Operator theory/operator algebras and applications (University of New Hampshire, July 1988) 50 James Glimm, John Impagliazzo, and Isadore Singer, Editors, The legacy of John von Neumann (Hofstra University, Hempstead, New York, May/June 1988) 49 Robert C. Gunning and Leon Ehrenpreis, Editors, Theta functions - Bowdoin 1987 (Bowdoin College, Brunswick, Maine, July 1987) 48 R.