Congrats 2011 MGB Officers!

The polls have been closed: the votes, counted.

The elected Math Graduate Board officers for 2011 will be

Chair: Alina Florescu

Vice-Chair: Rebecca Gasper

General Liaison: Susie Brooks

International Student Liaison: Gerard Koffi

GAUSS Co-Chairs: Kai Tsuruta and Greg Ongie

Social Co-Chairs: Annette Honken and Jessica Williams

Newsletter Co-Chairs: Erik Insko and Tracie Michlin

Congratulations to the winners.  Thank you everyone that voted or ran for an office.

2011 MGB Officer Election

It's election time!  Vote for officers for 2011 at http://math.uiowa.edu/MathGraduateBoard/index_files/election.html
The deadline to cast your ballot is Thursday night 11:59 PM.
Alternatively, you may vote during the MGB Meeting Wednesday, Dec. 1 at 4:30 PM in the Muhly Lounge.

Voting, Pizza and Meeting this Wednesday

I hope you all had a wonderful break last week!

Wednesday, December 1, is a BIG day for MGB as there will be an election, pizza, and a meeting.

1. Starting Wednesday morning you will be able to vote for next year's Math Graduate Board officers.  Alternatively, you may vote during the general meeting at 4:30 in the Muhly Lounge.  The link to the online ballot will be sent Wednesday morning.  

2. We will be offering our usual Wednesday noon pizza in the Muhly Lounge.  Come grab a sector!

3. We will be having our monthly meeting at 4:30 Wednesday.  If you don't like the idea of voting online, you can submit a ballot at the meeting.

We will also be deciding how MGB fundraiser money should be allocated.

Here is a summary of the ballot:

For the offices which will have two winners, candidates are allowed to campaign together, but their names will not be attached in any way on the ballot.

Officer Duties can be found at http://math.uiowa.edu/MathGraduateBoard/index_files/officerinfo.html

\BEGIN{BALLOT}

CHAIR (Vote for 1)

Alina  Florescu

Rebecca  Gasper

VICE-CHAIR (Vote for 1)

Rebecca Gasper
*UPDATE: Carmen Wright has entered the race for Vice-Chair.

GENERAL LIAISON (Vote for 1)

Susie Brooks

Nick Teff

INTERNATIONAL LIAISON (Vote for 1)

Gerard Koffi

Hongqian "Cece" Wu

GAUSS CO-CHAIRS (Vote for 2)

Alex Berrian

Erik Insko

Greg Ongie

Nathan Salazar

Kai Tsuruta

Luke Wassink

Wela Yong

Boshi Yang

NEWSLETTER CO-CHAIRS (Vote for 2)

Erik Insko

Tracie Michlin

SOCIAL CO-CHAIRS (Vote for 2)

Annette Honken

Jeff Landgren

Juan Murillo

Dan Wackwitz

Jessica Williams

/END{BALLOT}

MGB Officer Nominations

The election of new officers is only two weeks away!  If you have been nominated for an office, please contact Andrew or Alina to accept/decline the nomination.  Office descriptions are available at http://math.uiowa.edu/MathGraduateBoard/index_files/officerinfo.html

GAUSS: The Shadowing Property onn the Unit Interval

Our GAUSS speaker this week is first year math graduate Alex Berrian,
and the title of his talk is "The Shadowing Property on the Unit
Interval."  Check the bottom of this e-mail for his abstract.  The
main point is this: Alex is going to be talking about analysis
research he did as an undergrad in an REU (Research Experience for
Undergraduates) program, but he would also like to spend some time
talking about REU programs.  If you are an undergrad math major then
you should come to GAUSS today to learn about REU programs.  We would
like to get you excited about these excellent opportunities to
Experience real mathematics Research.  If you are one of the many math
grads who at one point was in an REU or involved in an REU, you are
welcome to come join in the conversation.  The final category of
people who should attend are people who like analysis.  Snacks will be
provided.

Check http://math.uiowa.edu/~rkilgore/GAUSS.html for any and all
GAUSS-related news.  If you have any questions, comments, suggestions
concerning GAUSS feel free to e-mail me or Trent.

Your GAUSS co-organizers,
Ross and Trent


Speaker: Alex Berrian
Title: The Shadowing Property on the Unit Interval
Date time and location: Tuesday, November 16, 4:30 PM, 118 MLH

Abstract:

Try this with your TI-83 or similar calculator: Punch in .9 and hit
ENTER. Hit the Cosine button, and then hit ENTER. You get cos(.9),
which is about .62. Hit ENTER again, and you get cos(cos(.9)), which
is about .81. Now hit ENTER a whole lot of times. Eventually you'll
get a number close to .74. We call this process an iteration of the
function cos(x).  Try doing this again, but start with .1 instead.
Guess what? After a while, you get the same number! Do this with any
number between 0 and 1 and you will arrive at the same result. Cool,
right? But wait - the calculator must truncate its answer each time in
order to do its calculations. How do you know that the calculator's
result for the nth iteration of cos(x) is close to the actual value?
One way of characterizing the accuracy of such an iteration is called
the shadowing property, which cos(x) happens to satisfy on the closed
unit interval [0,1], but which some functions do not. I'll explain
research I did during a summer NSF REU program with two other students
that gives a condition for certain functions to satisfy the shadowing
property on [0,1]. Undergraduates who want to know what REU programs
are like, as well as people who enjoy Analysis like me, are very much
encouraged to attend!

Pizza on Wednesday

Due to the success of last week's pizza fundraiser (we raised
$25!), I will be in the Muhly lounge this Wednesday between noon and
1pm again distributing pizza slices and beverages and collecting your
$2.50 contributions.

MGB has recently made a commitment to raise funds. These monies could
be used for mathematical events organized by us such as SK Day, the
math modelling competition and the AMS Central Section meeting to be
held here in the spring. We hope you will join us this Wednesday for
a slice (or two) !

MGB Meeting this Wednesday

Come to the MGB meeting this Wednesday (November 3, 2010) at 4:30 in the Muhly Lounge to nominate candidates for next year's Math Graduate Board officers. The offices are described at http://math.uiowa.edu/MathGraduateBoard/index_files/officers.html We will also discuss the recent departmental review, a hot chocolate fundraiser in December, math t-shirts, and coffee in MacLean hall.

We hope to see you there!

GAUSS: A Look at the ABC Conjecture via Elliptic Curves

Hi everyone,

The GAUSS speaker today is Gerard Koffi.  He's going to be talking
about "A Look at the ABC Conjecture via Elliptic Curves: An Algebraic
Approach."  All are welcome to attend, and snacks will be provided.
I'll paste his abstract at the bottom of this message.

If you'd like to keep up to date on what is happening in GAUSS, our
website is http://math.uiowa.edu/~rkilgore/GAUSS.html.  If you have
any questions or comments about GAUSS e-mail either me or Trent, or
talk to us in person, or write one of us a personal letter.

Finally, if you haven't voted already today is the day.

Your GAUSS co-organizers,
Trent and Ross

Speaker: Gerard Koffi
Title: A Look at the ABC Conjecture via Elliptic Curves: An Algebraic Approach
When and where: Tuesday, November 2, 2010, 4:30 P.M., 118 MLH
Abstract:

The ABC conjecture is a central open problem in number theory. It was
formulated in 1985 by Joseph Oesterle and David Masser, who worked
separately but eventually proposed equivalent conjectures. Consistent
with many problems in number theory, the ABC conjecture can be stated
in relatively simple, understandable terms. However, there are several
profound implications of the ABC conjecture. Fermat's Last Theorem is
one such implication. We study the connection between elliptic curves
and ABC triples. Two important results are proved. The first gives a
method for finding new ABC triples.  The second result states
conditions under which the  power of the new ABC triple increases or
decreases. Finally and if time permit, we present two algorithms
stemming from these two results.

Gauss: What to do with 120 dodecahedra

Dear grads, undergrads, and faculty,

Our GAUSS speaker today is David Gay. He'll be giving a talk titled,
"What to do with 120 dodecahedra." Note that this is information is
not the same as in the seminar announcement. His abstract will be
provided at the bottom of this e-mail.

This is where I usually type something like, "as always, snacks will
be provided." Often those snacks are store-bought cookies. However,
this week we at GAUSS have the distinct pleasure of announcing that
the snacks are being home-baked by our very own MT Padberg. So
whether you like cookies or you like dodecahedra, there are a plethora
of reasons to attend GAUSS today.

If you have any questions, comments, suggestions, etc. feel free to
contact one of your GAUSS co-organizers. We reserve the right to
ignore you, but you shouldn't let that stop you. Have a wonderful week.

Your GAUSS co-organizers,
Trent and Ross


Speaker: David Gay
Title: What to do with 120 dodecahedra.
Date, time, location: Tuesday, October 26, 4:30 PM, 118 MLH

Abstract:
You'll also need an extra dimension to make this work. I'll describe a
way to glue 120 dodecahedra together in 4-dimensional space to make a
closed 4-dimensional version of a polyhedron. BTW, a dodecahedron is a
3-dimensional polyhedron built by gluing 12 pentagons together in
3-dimensional space. I'll also show you how to draw a dodecahedron, a
skill which might come in handy some day. And, BTW, a pentagon is a
2-dimensional polygon built by gluing 5 line segments together in
2-dimensional space. And a line segment is a 1-dimensional ...?

GAUSS

The GAUSS speaker today is Alex Zupan, and he is giving a talk titled:
"The Hausdorff metric: the magic and the mystery."  From the looks of
that title one could get the impression that Alex is a mathemagician.
His abstract will appear below.

GAUSS occurs today, Tuesday October 19, at 4:30 P.M. in 118 MLH.
Snacks will be provided and everyone is welcome to attend.  We are
always looking for ways to improve GAUSS, so if you have suggestions
feel free to e-mail or talk to either Trent or me.

Your GAUSS co-organizers,
Ross and Trent


ASTRACT: Everyone learns how to find the distance between two points in
a standard precalculus class, but what about the distance between two
sets?  For any two points in Euclidean space, there exists a unique
point at a given location between them.  However, in the geometry of
the Hausdorff metric, intuitive facts from the realm of Euclidean
geometry are no longer valid.  In this talk, we provide a glimpse into
the strange world of the Hausdorff metric.  Think graph theory won't
be involved?  Think again!

GAUSS Today!

Our GAUSS speaker this week is Candice Price.  She's going to pick up
where Mike left off last week, the title of her talk is:
N-colorability the sequal: Tangles!
She had this to say about her talk:

I will continue on in the talk about colorability of knots but with an
added twist (pun intended)... tangle colorability!

Here is the pertinent information:
Speaker: Candice Price
Date: Tuesday, October 12, 2010
Time: 4:30 PM
Location: 118 MLH

Here are the answers to some questions that have been asked on occasion:
Will snacks be provided at GAUSS?  Yes

Have a good week everyone,
Ross and Trent

Common Errors in College Math

MGB is compiling a list of common mathematical errors we see our students making.  This list will be provided to local high school math teachers to share with their students (During SK Day 2010 some teachers requested such a list when asked how math graduate students could help high school math education). 

To help with this list please comment to this post, including the errors you see AND the relevant math courses.


Disclaimer: These mistakes are not necessarily being made by current students.  The people commenting below are not necessarily the current TAs or instructors for these courses, but may have taught, graded, or tutored students in the past.   The ultimate goal of compiling such a list is to identify common problems so that they may be corrected.

GAUSS Today

The GAUSS speaker today is Mike Fitzpatrick, and the title of his talk
is "N-Colorability of Knots and Links."  In a recent interview Mike
had this to say about his talk:

Tricolorability serves as a common first look at knot invariants.  I
will give an introduction of knots, knot diagrams, the Reidemeister
moves and tricolorability.  I will then generalize tricolorability to
n-colorability for any integer n > 1.  Naturally, n-colorability is
also a knot invariant.  I will end with some (I think) interesting
thoughts on colorability.  This talk will assume no prior knowledge of
anything at all and so is accessible to everyone.

So come to GAUSS today, Oct. 5, at 4:30 PM in room 118 MLH.

GAUSS spots have started to fill up, but we still have a few spots
available.  Contact us if you would like to talk, and for more
information check http://math.uiowa.edu/~rkilgore/GAUSS.html for more
information.

Thanks and have a pleasant day,
Ross and Trent

Meeting Reminder

There will be an MGB meeting on Wednesday, 4:30 in the Muhly lounge.

Specific items in the agenda include the following:

- Fall picnic in October

- Fundraising (SK Day, Math Modeling competition, etc.)

- Helping local high school math teachers

- Chalkboards

We hope to see you there.

GAUSS Tuesday

GAUSS this week features our very own me, and I'll be talking about
matrix multiplication.  In particular I will show why the product of
row reduced matrices is row reduced, I may show this two different
ways.  I'll also give a geometric interpretation of matrix
multiplication.  I never use anything complicated, but that doesn't
mean these results are nontrivial.  So come visit GAUSS this week.  As
ever, snacks (in particular cookies and milk) will be provided.  Oh,
and we have an official room now, 118 MLH.

Speaker: Ross Kilgore
Title: Some Results on Matrix Multiplication
Date and time: Tuesday, September 14, 4:30-5:20
Location: 118 MLH


If you would like to give a GAUSS talk, if you have an idea for a
GAUSS talk, if you want to volunteer someone for a GAUSS talk, if you
have any suggestions for how we could improve GAUSS, or if you would
like to provide the snacks for some future GAUSS, e-mail either me or
Trent.

Thanks for your time,
Ross and Trent

Meeting Wednesday

This is a reminder that the first  MGB meeting will be on Wednesday (1st Wed. of every month) at 4:30 in the Muhly lounge.  All math graduate students are encouraged to come.  The meeting should last about an hour.  Food will be free and plentiful.  A prize will be raffled. 

First Year Buddy Program

This semester we will be continuing the first year buddy program. This program provides more support to entering first year students. If you are not a first year, would like to meet our new students and share the wisdom you've gained at Iowa over the past year(s), please consider being a mentor. As a mentor you will be assigned a beginning student. Then it is up to you and your mentee to determine how often to meet and what to do. In the past 1st and nth (n>1) year buddies have met regularly for lunch, gone on bike rides, attend concerts, hung out in coffee shops, hang out at bars, and perhaps skydived. It's completely up to you. Sounds fun, huh?

Let me know ASAP is you are interested so I can announce assignments by Friday. (All first years will automatically be assigned a buddy, so first-years need not respond)
If you have particular requests for 1st year buddies, let me know that too.

The first official first year buddy event will be this Friday. As we have done in past years, we'll meet in the Muhly lounge and then head to Joe's.

TA Meeting

This is a friendly reminder of the mandatory T.A. meeting today at 1:30 PM.

Welcome to our new blog!

The Math Graduate Board (MGB) exists to provide a forum for departmental discourse, to organize departmental events and to generally enrich the graduate mathematics experience at the University of Iowa. It is an official university student organization established and led entirely by math graduate students. The board sponsors several social events, including the semiannual Mathematics Picnic. We organize the Graduate And Undergraduate Student Seminar (GAUSS). We publish the University of Iowa Sum-Times, a monthly newsletter. Our constitution is available here