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Oxford Mathematical Institute Spring 2013, Number 11 Newsletter

We hope that you enjoy receiving this annual Newsletter. We are Nearly there... interested to receive your comments, and also The last lap, the home straight, the final push – however you describe it, we’re nearly there. contributions for future The extraordinary transformation of a huge hole in the ground into a seven-floor Mathematical Newsletters. Institute is virtually complete. The Chairman of the Department is finalising the room plan; Please write to the editor: the events team is working on the official opening ceremony; meanwhile, the contractors have Robin Wilson completed the skin of the building and are fitting it out, from the basement car park to the MI Newsletter topmost office and the roof terraces. Mathematical Institute 24–29 St Giles Now that we can see the building itself, we Oxford OX1 3LB, realise what a fabulous space it will be. Each of or send e-mails to him, c/o the two stunning central atria features a 'crystal' [email protected] – a light-well into the below-ground teaching Design & production by Baseline Arts space – incorporating mathematics into its design. As you walk along Woodstock Road at night, you’ll see lights through the glass roofs of the atria and the office windows.

The building is coming to life. We start to move in at the end of June, and by this year's alumni garden party, which will be held in September (please note the new time – see page 8), we shall be fully at work in our new home. Do come and visit us! n

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News Clay Mathematics Institute Nick Woodhouse, CMI President

In July 2012 the Clay drawn attention to the seven problems in Mathematics a way that is unusual in our sometimes Institute moved the invisible discipline. So far only one prize organisation of its has been awarded, to Gregoriy Perelman mathematical for the proof of the Poincaré conjecture. activities to a new (Perelman declined the prize, as he had 'President's Office' earlier declined the Fields Medal; those in the Mathematical who came to the Mathematical Institute

© Rob Judges © Rob Institute at Oxford. Garden Party in 2008 will have heard Landon Clay with Sir Andrew Wiles some of this history, in the lecture by For the moment it is housed in temporary Sir John Ball.) The move of the office to Oxford offers a quarters in the Gibson Building, but in the wonderful opportunity for CMI to build summer of 2013 it will join the general CMI supports mathematics in many other on its success and to extend the migration to the stunning new ways. It supports individuals through international reach of its support for mathematics building in the Radcliffe Research Awards and Research mathematics. It is also a wonderful Observatory Quarter. The CMI remains an Fellowships, and other shorter-term opportunity for Oxford to benefit from American charitable foundation, but funding: the high standard set is perhaps CMI activities in the new building, for Oxford will provide administrative support indicated by the fact that three of the which we all also owe an enormous debt and a location for many of the activities four Fields Medals awarded at the last of gratitude to the Clay family. n that it supports. International Congress of Mathematicians went to former recipients of research The CMI was founded with a very support from CMI. It also supports generous endowment by Landon T. Clay in conferences and workshops for New 1998. It grew out of his belief in the value outstanding mathematicians at all levels. Waynflete of mathematical knowledge and its centrality to human progress, culture, One particularly successful partnership is Professor and intellectual life. Its objectives are with the PROMYS summer programme for n to increase and disseminate high-school students at Boston University. appointed mathematical knowledge; Over 24 years, 1332 students have n to educate mathematicians and other participated. Of those who are old The Waynflete Chair scientists about new discoveries in the enough, more than half now have of Pure Mathematics field of mathematics; doctorates, and half of those are from the is named after n to encourage gifted students to pursue top six mathematics graduate schools in William Waynflete, mathematical careers; the USA − a record unrivalled by any other Bishop of Winchester n to recognize extraordinary mathematics educational programme. The from 1447 to 1486 achievements and advances in CMI is currently seeking to extend the and founder of Magdalen College. mathematical research. benefit to students from outside the USA. Following the departure of Raphaël Rouquier, the appointment has been It is perhaps best known for the Because it is able to respond quickly and announced of Professor Ben Green FRS establishment of the Clay Millennium is not bound by the constraints under () to the Prizes − $1,000,000 prizes offered for the which national funding bodies must Waynflete Chair. Ben Green is well solution of each of seven deep unsolved operate, CMI can also support known for his work in combinatorial problems in mathematics. These have had mathematics in other less conventional mathematics and , and a huge impact: first, in raising awareness but equally inspiring ways. For example, in particular the Green–Tao theorem of mathematics amongst young students in 2004 it funded the digitisation of the which concerns the appearance of and in encouraging them to enter the Bodleian Library's Euclid manuscript, the arithmetic progressions in the list of discipline; second, in conveying a message oldest surviving manuscript of Euclid's prime numbers. He wrote his PhD thesis to professional mathematicians about the Elements, transcribed in Constantinople under the supervision of Fields Medallist importance of working on really hard long- by Stephen the Clerk in AD 888. It can be Tim Gowers, and he has been a standing problems. The prizes have also seen on the CMI website Research Fellow of the Clay entered the general consciousness and (www.claymath.org). Mathematics Institute. n

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Chairman's letter

be followed by Terry Lyons, in the UK – to an EPSRC-commissioned study on the Chairman’s see below and page 7); Alison Etheridge value of research in the mathematical is 'maths buddy' to the Chief Scientist at sciences to the UK economy. The report, letter the Treasury; and Frances Kirwan is Chair written by Deloitte and available on of the UK Mathematics Trust. Marcus du EPSRC's website, concludes: Sam Howison Sautoy sells mathematics to the world: he The quantified contribution of recently donated a group of symmetries mathematical science research to the As the new to the Queen as a Diamond Jubilee UK economy in 2010 is estimated to be building present (see page 7), and on page 8 you approximately 2.8 million in employment approaches can find details of how to buy your own. terms (around 10 per cent of all jobs in completion, we the UK) and £208 billion in terms of can lift our eyes Judges © Rob Recently we’ve been writing 'impact Gross Value Added contribution (around from the details of planning to look at case studies' for the upcoming Research 16 per cent of total UK GVA). the wider world. Excellence Framework assessment of the quality of research in UK universities. These extraordinary figures can be set Oxford Mathematics doesn't exist in a Our work has had major impact in a against the government's annual vacuum: far from it. Our members play a whole range of non-academic sectors, investment in funding for doctorates in full part in the life of the world-wide ranging from aero-engineering to mathematics in all of the UK: just £9M. mathematical community. They edit defence and national security, and from Our Prime Minister likes to tell us that journals (several are run from Oxford); finance to glass manufacture. Britain is competing in a global race. He they sit on national and international might do well to recall that the sports in boards and committees; they lead Of course, we aren't the only impactful which Britain excelled in last summer's national mathematics societies (Nick mathematicians in the UK. I was recently a Olympics were those that had been Trefethen in the US and Graeme Segal, to member of a working group contributing properly funded. n

Terry Lyons to be LMS President © Rob Judges © Rob Professor Terry Lyons FRS, Wallis dimensional and interacting random Sedleian Professors of Natural Professor of Mathematics since 1999, and systems. His research has contributed to Philosophy: A. E. H. Love (1912), Director of the Oxford-Man Institute of the pure mathematical foundations, and E. A. Milne (1937) and Sir John Ball* Quantitative Finance (above left), is to applications, for example: providing (1996 and 2007). the latest Oxford mathematician to be efficient new methods for numerical Waynflete Professors of Pure appointed President of the London calculation and novel ways to summarise Mathematics: E. B. Elliott (1896), Mathematical Society; he takes up his vast data sets effectively.’ A. L. Dixon (1924), Henry Whitehead two-year post in November. The current (1953) and Graham Higman (1965). President is also an Oxford mathemat ician: In fact, since the LMS was founded in Dr Graeme Segal FRS, Senior Research 1865, more than a dozen mathematicians Other Oxford professors: Fellow at All Souls College (above right). have held this prestigious position while Frances Kirwan* (2003). occupying Chairs at Oxford; all of them Before settling in Oxford Terry Lyons held have been Fellows of the Royal Society. In addition, several Oxford mathematicians appointments at Imperial College, London, These include the following (with asterisks have been LMS President at other stages of and the . Later he denoting current members of the their careers. The earliest was James Joseph became Director of the Wales Institute of Mathematical Institute): Sylvester (1866), while recent ones have Mathematical and Computational Science. included Sir Christopher Zeeman*, Principal According to the LMS Newsletter of Savilian Professors of Geometry: of Hertford College (1986), Wallis Professor October 2012, ‘Professor Lyons Henry Smith (appointed 1874), G. H. Sir John Kingman (1990), Sir Martin researches in stochastic analysis, the area Hardy (1926), E. C. Titchmarsh (1945), Taylor*, Warden of Merton College (1998), of mathematics which focuses on Sir Michael Atiyah (1974), Ioan James* Brian Davies (2007) and providing tools for describing high (1984) and Nigel Hitchin* (1994). (2009). n

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Oxford-Man Institute

Oxford-Man Institute comes of age Terry Lyons FRS, OMI Director

The Oxford-Man Institute for Quantitative Finance (OMI) has moved from the Left: OMI Director Terry Lyons in Shanghai initial phase of establishing its disciplinary excellence to creating truly Above: An OMI seminar; interdisciplinary collaboration. Below: Marek Musiela

It’s half past midday on a Monday Business School, and rewards them with a order books; exploiting GPUs (graphical afternoon in November, and students and modest research grant, an individual work processing units) for high performance academics stream into the Seminar Room pod, and – above all – an environment computing in a variety of application on the top floor of Eagle House in Jericho, inviting them to step outside their areas; and exploring the noisy and the home of the Oxford-Man Institute disciplinary silos. The interdisciplinarity, a complex poorly structured information since 2009. The building is just a stone’s part of OMI raison d’être from the outset, streams from the WWW and exploring throw away from the Radcliffe Observatory has really flourished in recent times. We their potential application to financial Quarter in convenient proximity to the continue to offer membership to indicators for investment funds. new Maths building. mathematics students, but at the same time we have boosted the graduate The collaboration between mathematical On the agenda there’s one of the so- recruitment from a number of other fields, sciences and the financial industry can be called ‘sandwich seminars’, where people ranging from economics to law. The a win-win situation and OMI has engaged are invited to grab a lunch tray and eat spectrum of students mirrors the research in reshaping research to be an effective while listening to a lecture capturing the horizons of their supervisors, who are and constructive collaboration among wide interests of the Institute (the menu based in, or associated with, the Institute. academic and industrial experts; and we of the day varies, and for the last four are presenting the case for this proactive weeks has been: ‘On the dark side of the What makes OMI unique is the interaction both in the UK and abroad – market – identifying and analysing hidden relationship with our core funder, Man for example, during my recent visits to order placements’, ‘Some new results on Group plc, a world-leading alternative Chinese stock exchanges. second order BSDE’, ‘Failure and rescue in investment management business. Not an interbank network’, and ‘Particle only has Man provided us with generous In this respect OMI was Markov chain Monte Carlo methods for funding, for which we are very grateful, also greatly strengthened calibration and estimation of multifactor but it has also co-located its research last September by the commodity models’). This will be followed laboratory in the same building. This arrival of its first Deputy by one or two of our Stochastic Analysis industrial connection has created, within Director, Marek Musiela, Group seminars and will go on into late the OMI, the passion for research to have an outstanding scientist afternoon. Tomorrow’s seminars will be outcomes, and we are increasingly and academic whose exclusively finance based. If you are a engaged in channelling this passion into contributions to the mathematics postgrad interested in projects. modelling and hedging of theory and applications, life can’t get interest rate products are better than this. As examples, we are working on the known across the world’s development and software implementation universities and within the industry, and OMI does not have its own students, of modern non-commutative mathematical who for the last eleven years has but affiliates a number of DPhil students methods for thinking about complex worked at a senior level managing a from Mathematics, Computer Science, sequential time series with a view of large research group within the banking Engineering, Economics, Law and the Saïd enhancing our ability to model slippage in sector. n

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Mathematical biology

a) Mathematical biology in Oxford Philip Maini and Alain Goriely

Mathematical biology is a generic name which encompasses the application of Murex tenuirostrum mathematical and statistical techniques to problems in biology, ecology, epidemiology and medicine. With the development of quantitative biology in the b) last 20 years, mathematical biology has become one of the most exciting and rapidly growing fields of applied mathematics. As such it has become very

fashionable, and it is now difficult to throw a stone in a mathematics department Chione gnidia without hitting somebody declaring an interest in some aspects of biology.

The situation was quite different in 1983 More than any other field of applied mathematical modelling of the evolution when Professor James D. Murray FRS mathematics, mathematical biology is and spread of infectious diseases, while founded Oxford’s Centre for Mathematical naturally infectious and could not be Professor Denis Noble FRS is renowned Biology (CMB) with a grant from the SERC. contained in just one research centre or worldwide for his ground-breaking work on In those early days the field was rather one department. New scientific problems modelling the electrical activity of heart small and one needed a strength of grow into mathematical modelling muscle cells, and with Professor Peter conviction and ‘faith’ to withstand the lack problems which feed into new challenges Hunter FRS (now at the University of of respectability and the general in mathematical and computational Auckland) developed the first whole organ scepticism from those working in the more methods, and many faculty from the computational model of the heart. established fields. But there was no lack Computer Science Department (previously of enthusiasm on the part of Prof. Murray, Comlab) and OCIAM (Oxford’s Centre for It is no exaggeration to say that much of and the world-renowned success that the Industrial Applied Mathematics) quickly the present landscape of mathematical UK currently enjoys in mathematical joined the feeding frenzy. More recently biology worldwide was shaped by the biology is due in no small measure to his the creation of OCCAM (Oxford’s Centre aforementioned Oxford figures. Today, work and that of the CMB team, which is for Collaborative Applied Mathematics) Oxford continues to play its part in now a bubbling centre of activity with and the arrival of Professor Helen Byrne shaping the landscape. At the centre of three faculty members and around 20 created a new impetus by expanding our this effort is a group of faculty, post docs graduate students and post docs. overall research portfolio to new problems and students in the Mathematical in mechanical biology such as growth, Institute who build new collaborations The field has also rapidly evolved from the morphogenesis, and problems at the with life scientists and keep pushing the early seminal work on the theory of interface between mechanics, biology and boundaries of applied mathematics. The pattern formation mediated by mathematics. future of mathematical biology in Oxford reaction–diffusion equations to new is indeed very bright. n discrete, stochastic and hybrid modelling. The Mathematical Institute has now about Integral to this work are the development 15 Faculty, 16 post docs and research of computational methods, and close fellows, and 31 DPhil students involved in collaboration with experimentalists to mathematical biology. But the community understand how macroscopic tissue level of mathematical biologists in Oxford is not behaviour arises from the cell-level limited to our Institute. Among many response to, and generation of, physical others, the thriving Statistics department is and chemical cues, with applications to a the home of a world-leading group in vast array of subjects, such as pattern statistical genetics and bioinformatics; for formation in development, progression of example, the group led by Professor Peter tumour growth, biofilms, and modelling Donnelly FRS has made seminal discoveries normal and abnormal (for example in concerning the links between genetics and diabetics) wound healing. The CMB has cancer. In the department of Zoology, Lord collaborations with virtually all the Robert May (Baron May of Oxford) is a experimental departments and institutes world leader in mathematical ecology, who within Oxford, as well as with major developed models to study the spread of Spine morphologies predicted from a experimental groups worldwide, and has disease, such as HIV, as well as biomechanical model and compared with four seashells in the Muricidae family. The two been a key partner in establishing a understanding species diversity. In the parameters of the model are the shell growth number of interdisciplinary doctoral training department of Physiology, Professor rate and the degree of mantle stiffness centres with Computational Biology. Angela McLean FRS is a world leader in the variation. (Courtesy of R. Chirat, D. Moulton and A. Goriely.)

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People

Appointments... Alexander Ritter Dominic Joyce has been elected a Fellow of the (Cambridge): University Royal Society for his contributions to differential We are delighted to welcome the following new Lecturer in Geometry and geometry. members of the Mathematical Institute. Fellow of Wadham College. Richard Earl has received an OUSU Teaching Award Research interests: for lecturing. Sam Cohen (Adelaide): symplectic geometry (an University Research Lecturer. interplay between geometry, Terry Lyons FRS is President-Designate of the Research interests: decision analysis, and physics). London Mathematical Society (see page 3). making through time in the Apala Majumdar was awarded the British Liquid presence of risk and Jared Tanner (Edinburgh): Crystal Society Young Scientist Prize for 2012. uncertainty, as described by Professor of the Mathematics backward stochastic of Information. Sergey Nadtochiy (Oxford-Man Institute) was differential equations. Research interests: signal/ awarded the 2012 SIAM Financial Mathematics image processing, numerical and Engineering Junior Scientist Prize for his Doyne Farmer (Santa Fe analysis, matrix analysis and contributions to mathematical finance. Institute): Professor of stochastic geometry. Mathematics and Co-director Peter Neumann OBE was awarded the 2012 IMA/LMS Medal for services to of Complexity Economics for Qian Wang (Max Planck mathematics and the mathematics community. the Institute for New Institute, Germany): University Economic Thinking. Lecturer in Analysis of Jen Pestana was awarded the prize for the best Research interests: complex systems, systemic risk Nonlinear Partial Differential paper at the 12th Copper Mountain Conference and financial stability, evolution of technology, Equations and Tutorial Fellow on Iterative Methods. economic growth, sustainability. of Lincoln College. Tom Sanders received one of the ten European Research interests: partial Mathematical Society prizes, awarded every four Ian Hewitt (University of differential equations and harmonic analysis, with a years to outstanding young mathematicians, for his British Columbia): University focus on the study of nonlinear hyperbolic equations. Lecturer in Mathematical fundamental results in additive combinatorics and Geoscience and Fellow of Retirements and departures harmonic analysis. Trinity College. was awarded the London Mathematical ‘Retirement’ has become a hazy concept. Academics Research interests: Society’s Pólya Prize for his major contributions to have never taken it very seriously, regarding it more mathematical modelling, fluid . and solid mechanics, with applications to glaciology as an asymptotic state. Nevertheless, while the and volcanology. formal stage exists we mark it, and this year we saw Jared Tanner is one of the Founding Editors of the the ‘retirement’ of two long-standing members of new IMA journal Information and Inference. the department, Michael Collins, Professor of Derek Moulton (Oxford): Sarah Waters was awarded a London Mathematical Mathematics and Fellow of University College, and University Lecturer in Society Whitehead Prize for her contributions to Keith Hannabuss, Billmeir Fellow of Balliol College, Mathematical Biology and physiological fluid mechanics and the biomechanics with over 80 years of service between them. Fellow of Balliol College. of artificially engineered tissues. Research interests: Raphaël Rouquier (Waynflete Professor of Nick Woodhouse has become President of the Clay mathematical modelling of Mathematics) has left to take up a position at UCLA, Mathematics Institute (see page 2). physical systems, especially mechanobiology, growth California, Bernd Kirchheim has taken up a Chair in and pattern formation, and morphoelasticity. Leipzig, Barbara Niethammer has taken up a Chair Student achievements in Bonn, and Thaleia Zariphopoulou has taken up Nikolay Nikolov (Imperial a Chair at the University of Texas in Austin. Josephine French of Keble College won both the College London): University Mathematics category award at the 2012 SET Lecturer in Pure Mathematics Achievements (Science, Engineering and Technology) Awards and Fellow of University ceremony, and the overall Student of the Year award, Sir John Ball FRS, Bryan Birch FRS, Marcus du College. for her project on Differential operators on base Sautoy, Roger Heath-Brown FRS, Nigel Hitchin FRS, Research interests: group affine space (see below). Her project supervisor Kobi Frances Kirwan FRS, Ulrike Tillmann FRS and Nick theory, in particular, Kremnitzer was thereby named Best Lecturer. There Trefethen FRS have all been elected to the inaugural asymptotic properties of finite and infinite groups. were more than 500 entries from 100 universities. class of fellows of the American Mathematical Society.

Colin Please (Southampton): Jon Chapman, Kathryn Gillow and Martin Griffiths Professor of Applied received Teaching Awards in the University’s Mathematics, University Mathematics, Physical and Life Sciences Division. Lecturer in Industrial and Interdisciplinary Applied Gui-Qiang Chen, Philip Maini and Thaleia Mathematics, and Tutorial Zariphopoulou have become Fellows of SIAM, the Fellow of Mansfield College. Society for Industrial and Applied Mathematics. Research interests: the development, analysis and Andrew Dancer, Anne Henke and Jan Kristensen solution of continuum mathematical models of were awarded the title of Professor in the industrial problems, particularly related to energy University’s latest Recognition of Distinction exercise. and tissue growth. Stephanie Crampin of St Hugh’s College was joint , Simonyi Professor for the Public winner of the 2012 Undergraduate Essay Prize of the Understanding of Science, was awarded an honorary British Society for the History of Mathematics for an DSc degree by Queen Mary for essay on The contribution of Évariste Galois to the services to mathematics and science. founding of group theory. n

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Outreach

3 What does a scholarly society like this A present for the M in China do? In SIAM's case the biggest activities are journals, books and conferences. We Irving Shark, Chloe Martindale Queen publish fifteen journals in areas such as and Tobias Teo (pictured below) I could be bounded in a nutshell, dynamical systems, financial and count myself a Queen of infinite mathematics, and optimisation , and Marcus’s Marvellous Mathemagicians space. most of them are leaders in their fields. (M3, for short) is an outreach group Th ere's also a successfu l textbook/ champion ed by Professor Marcus du To celebrate Her Majesty the Queen’s monograph series, and we run a dozen Sautoy. Our activities primarily include Diamond Jubilee, Oxford mathematician or so conferences each year. workshops at UK schools and science Marcus du Sautoy, Simonyi Professor for festivals, but this winter three of us had the Public Understanding of Science, We're especially proud of the student the chance to spread the joy of maths presented her with an unusual object side of SIAM, featuring generous grants much fu rther from home, at Dulwich that encodes three key dates of her for conference attendance and more than College in Beijing and Shanghai. Over reign, 1952 (accession), 2012, and the 100 student chapters around the world, four days we engaged over 1200 60 years of her reign. As he observed: on e of the liveliest being in Oxford. We students and teachers, and the She should be really excited. I think it’s aim to help undergraduates and experience was amazing. Th e week was the first thing ever made in her honour (especially) graduate students take the very intense, but the students were which, unlike bell towers, ocean liners step from the classroom to engagement great: they loved the maths and and Olympic Parks, will last for ever. with applied mathematical research in described our activities as ‘so ninja’ (we science, engineering and industry. didn’t even know it was an adjective!). However the Queen won’t be able to Th is was the biggest adventure that M3 take a stroll around her new And what does the President do? Much had yet seen, but definitely opens the mathematical domain as this of my attention related to journals, for doors for more intern ational activities. symmetrical object lives beyond our which I initiated a reform designed to Brazil, anyone? n three-dimensional universe: speed up the process of refereeing manuscripts for publication. Th e Called the Diamond Jubilee group, it was unexpected side of the job was the recorded on a framed certificate unending stream of matters to attend to describing in mathematical language the concerning people, people, people … it contours of her strange new dominion, seemed that there was alway s another and explaining that the new shape committee needing to be staffed, often ‘corresponds to an elliptic curve of in connection with choo sing the conductor 20,779,051,082,713,382,720’. recipient for on e of SIAM's well-known prizes. Ex perience shows that Oxford University has a very strong individuals identified for a committee research team exploring the world of are more likely to serve if they are symmetry, and Marcus’s new contacted personally by the President, symmetrical object forges a link with so I found myself in touch with people one of the great mysteries in all around the world, every morn ing and mathematics: elliptic curves. The every aftern oon. I enjoyed the job Queen’s new object is one of a seam of thoroughly, but I'm glad it's behind me! such shapes that he has uncovered. In a drive to involve the public in Oxford’s A note from the I also wrote a monthly ‘President's fundamental research, and in exchange President of SIAM co lumn’ in our newspaper, SIAM News. for a donation to an educational charity Th e topics ranged over many subjects, that he supports, he will allow anyone Nick Trefethen FRS including mathematics (my twelve to name one of these as yet favourite eigenvalue problems), unidentified symmetrical objects floating Last December I philosophy (the interplay between in hyperspace (see page 8). As he said: completed a two-yea r discrete and continuous), po litics term as President of (should pure and applied maths be I hope this initiative will give the public SIAM, the Society for separate?), and person al (the ro le of a chance to get involved in Industrial and Applied Mathematics. writing in my life). If yo u’re interested, mathematics and also to join the Founded in the USA, SIAM is now an take a look at it on Queen in hyperspace to celebrate her international society with around 14,000 http://people.maths.ox.ac.uk/ Diamond Jubilee. n members, 500 of them in the UK . trefethen/essays.html. n

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Epsilons and deltas

Dame Kathleen Food for thought Ollerenshaw at 100 Nick Trefethen FRS, Professor of Numerical Analysis, hit the newspaper headlines this year with his discovery that the Belgian statistician Adolphe Quetelet’s 1830s formula for calculating body fat is an overestimate for tall Institute Garden people, but an underestimate for short Parties ones. Last year’s Mathematical Institute Garden Party was held at St Anne’s, Terror Fermat and was preceded by lectures given by A terrible thing happened over the Prof. Alain Goriely on The mathematical Christmas break. Audacious cat burglars

mind of Professor Moriarty: all the © James King-Holmes scaled the roof and broke into Sir Andrew mathematics you didn’t see in the A lunch was organised at Somerville Wiles's office, but fortunately nothing was movie and Dr Derek Moulton on College last October to celebrate the taken; it appears that they didn't look Seashell growth and morphology. 100th birthday of Dame Kathleen hard enough in the margins of the room. There was also an update on the new Ollerenshaw, former Somerville building by Sam Howison, Chairman of undergraduate and distinguished the Mathematical Institute. President of the Institute of Orthogonal sudoku Mathematics and its Applications. Fill in the empty cells in the puzzle This year’s event will take place at the A number of Oxford mathematicians and below, so that each cell contains one of new Mathematical Institute on 21 members of Somerville attended this the numbers 1, 2, . . . , 9 and one of the September. There will be tours of the delightful event. The College was letters a, b, . . . , i. Each number and building and Marcus du Sautoy will give bathed in sunshine and looked at its each letter must appear exactly once in a lecture on The secret mathematicians. glorious best. Toasts were made to each row, column and 3×3 block, and Dame Kathleen by Dr Alice Prochaska each of the 81 possible number–letter Advertisement (Principal of Somerville), and Sir Martin pairs must appear somewhere in the grid. Taylor (Warden of Merton College). (The numbers and letters are said to form A hyper-perfect gift: Dame Kathleen is still actively engaged a pair of orthogonal Latin squares.) as owned by Royalty with her mathematics and was described as a huge inspiration to one Here's the perfect gift for the hard-to- and all. please aunt or uncle: their very own personalised group of symmetries. Dame Kathleen then responded in her Oxford Professor and TV personality own distinctive style, full of energy and Marcus du Sautoy discovered a class enthusiasm. Reminiscing about her of these groups in the course of his admissions interview, she recalled how research and offers them up to be named in return for a small donation no mathematics Fellows had been to charity. He also donated one to the present, and recalled following the Queen for her Diamond Jubilee! Visit the questions by lip reading because of her web page at www.maths.ox.ac.uk/ deafness. Expressing her gratitude for naming_symmetries where you can all that the College had done for her, Solution to last year’s puzzle: purchase your own group in a matter she added her thanks to W. L. Ferrar, of minutes: just fill in a donation form, who tutored her in much of her choose three integers to personalise mathematics. She amusingly contrasted your group, give it a name, and add a the wonderful Oxford weather with the message to the recipient. You'll be e- tumultuous downpour that had mailed your unique certificate specifying accompanied the Manchester festivities your group, ready to print off and give a few days previously. to auntie or uncle – and if your recollection of group theory is a bit hazy, don't worry: Marcus has written Lunch concluded quite abruptly when an aide-memoire on the web page! she was led away for an interview for the College archive.

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