Tag Archives: math club

Math Club on Thursday!

Prof. Toundykov has asked me to pass along the announcement below about this week’s Math Club event:

When: Thursday (11 Apr 13) at 1700 (5 pm)
Where: Avery 106
Who: Kathryn Haymaker (UNL graduate student)

Title: Counting techniques and the game SET

Abstract: SET is a multi-person card game in which the goal is to collect particular sets of three cards from a group of 12 (or more). The person with the most SETs by the end of the game wins. We will use different counting techniques to answer some interesting questions about the game, including: what is the size of the largest group of cards that does not contain a SET?, and, what is the most common type of SET? It turns out, one of the questions above was actually answered 11 years before the game was invented! In this talk we will relate this proof back to the game SET and discuss some generalizations.

Katie gives great talks, and even if you have never played SET before, I think you’ll enjoy this one. Please try to attend! As usual, there will be pizza and pop.

To do for Friday, Math Club reminder

I’ve posted the handout from yesterday’s class, including a version where I fill in answers to the first section (Fermat’s Theorem). Please take a few minutes to look that over before class as well as think about the part on Euler’s Theorem in light of how I filled in the first part. We’ll spend some time discussing this stuff tomorrow before going on to 9F. No formal RQs for Friday.

Also, a reminder about today’s Math Club meeting (with pizza!), which will be held at 1700 in Avery 106. At this meeting, faculty will speak about the advanced math courses (300- and 400-level) being taught in the fall. This is a great opportunity to learn more about what courses are being offered before you register!

It doesn’t look like I’m going to get the test graded before class tomorrow, so you’ll get it back on Monday.

Test I, Advanced Math Course Preview

The take-home portion is available for download from Course Documents. It’s due at the start of class on Wednesday. No proof portfolio draft due tomorrow (feedback from Thursday drafts coming tonight), no RQs for Wednesday, and no homework due on Friday.

Prof. Toundykov has asked me to share with you that there will be a Math Club meeting (with pizza) on Thursday at 1700 in Avery 106. At this meeting, faculty will speak about the advanced math courses (300- and 400-level) being taught in the fall. This is a great opportunity to learn more about what courses are being offered before you register. (Most of the brief presentations will be by the faculty members who are teaching the courses next year.) I encourage everyone to attend. (I’ll be there, as I’m describing Math 310 since they haven’t assigned instructors for it in the fall. Most of the other brief presentations will be given by the professors teaching the courses in the fall.)

Math Club: Thursday at 1630

Professor Toundykov has asked me to share this announcement with you about the upcoming Math Club meeting. I encourage everyone to attend!

This week our department will be visited by Keri Kornelson (University of Oklahoma), hosted by Allan Donsig. Keri is an author of the book “Frames for Undergraduates” and will present an introduction to the subject of frames at 4:30 pm, on Thursday (Feb 14) in Avery 108.

TITLE: Loosen up! An Introduction to Frames.

ABSTRACT: An orthonormal basis (ONB) in a finite-dimensional space like \(\mathbb{R}^n\) has a lot of useful and efficient properties, which is why a great deal of what you learn in linear algebra makes use of ONBs. There are a wide range of applications to other areas of math and science as well where ONBs play a crucial role. But in this talk, we will discuss some of the drawbacks of ONBs. We find that a somehow looser set of vectors (called a frame) might maintain the positive attributes of the ONB while overcoming some of the flaws.