Madison Math Circle: Difference between revisions

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[[Image:logo.png|right|440px]]
[[Image:logo.png|right|440px]]


For the site in Spanish, visit [[Math Circle de Madison]]
=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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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:
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:


[https://fs18.formsite.com/crabbott/form1/index.html '''Math Circle Registration Form''']
[https://uwmadison.co1.qualtrics.com/jfe/form/SV_eD09FBmDhEbWcYZ '''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).
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==Contact the organizers==
==Contact the organizers==
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:math-circle-organizers@math.wisc.edu here]. We are always interested in feedback!
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@lists.wisc.edu here]. We are always interested in feedback!
<center>
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<gallery widths=480px heights=240px mode="packed">
<gallery widths=480px heights=240px mode="packed">
File:de.jpg|[https://www.math.wisc.edu/~derman/ Prof. Daniel Erman]
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:Betsy.jpg|[http://www.math.wisc.edu/~stovall/ Prof. Betsy Stovall]
File:Craciun.jpg|[http://www.math.wisc.edu/~craciun/ Prof. Gheorghe Craciun]
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</gallery>


<gallery widths=500px heights=250px mode="packed">
<gallery widths=500px heights=250px mode="packed">
File:dj.jpg|[http://www.math.wisc.edu/~djbruce/ DJ Bruce]
File:juliettebruce.jpg|[http://www.math.wisc.edu/~juliettebruce/ Juliette Bruce]
File:Ee.jpg|[http://www.math.wisc.edu/~evaelduque/ Eva Elduque]
File:Ee.jpg|[http://www.math.wisc.edu/~evaelduque/ Eva Elduque]
File:mrjulian.jpg|[http://www.math.wisc.edu/~mrjulian/ Ryan Jullian]
File:mrjulian.jpg|[http://www.math.wisc.edu/~mrjulian/ Ryan Julian]
 
File:soumyasankar.jpg|[http://www.math.wisc.edu/~soumyasankar Soumya Sankar]
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</center>
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Contact the organizers if you have questions or your own ideas about how to help out.
Contact the organizers if you have questions or your own ideas about how to help out.


=Meetings for Fall 2015 and Spring 2016=
=Meetings for Fall 2017 and Spring 2018=


<center>
<center>


All talks start at '''6pm in room 3255 of Helen C. White Library''', unless otherwise noted.
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 2015
! colspan="3" style="background: #e8b2b2;" align="center" | Fall 2017
|-
|-
! Date !! Speaker !! Topic
! Date !! Speaker !! Topic
|-
|-
| September 14, 2015 || David Sondak || [https://www.math.wisc.edu/wiki/index.php/Madison_Math_Circle_Abstracts#September_14_2015 How to SEE Sound]
| September 18, 2017 || [http://www.math.wisc.edu/~derman/ Daniel Erman] || [https://www.math.wisc.edu/wiki/index.php/Madison_Math_Circle_Abstracts#September_18_2017 Welcome to the Madison Math Circle!]  
|-
|-
| September 21, 2015 || Prof. Uri Andrews|| [https://www.math.wisc.edu/wiki/index.php/Madison_Math_Circle_Abstracts#September_21_2015 Guarding Mona Lisa]  
| September 25, 2017 || [http://www.math.wisc.edu/~stovall/ Betsy Stovall] || [https://www.math.wisc.edu/wiki/index.php/Madison_Math_Circle_Abstracts#September_25_2017 Math is a game! ]  
|-
|-
| September 28, 2015 || Eva Elduque|| [https://www.math.wisc.edu/wiki/index.php/Madison_Math_Circle_Abstracts#September_28_2015  Pick's Theorem]  
| October 2, 2017 || [https://www.math.wisc.edu/~rdavis/ Rachel Davis] || [https://www.math.wisc.edu/wiki/index.php/Madison_Math_Circle_Abstracts#October_2_2017 Thinking outside the box]  
|-
|-
| October 5, 2015 || Jessica Lin|| [https://www.math.wisc.edu/wiki/index.php/Madison_Math_Circle_Abstracts#October_5_2015 The Math of Sudoku]  
| October 9, 2017 || [http://www.math.wisc.edu/~sparenti/ Solly Parenti] || [https://www.math.wisc.edu/wiki/index.php/Madison_Math_Circle_Abstracts#October_9_2017 Hackenbush]  
|-
|-
| October 12, 2015 || Ryan Julian || [https://www.math.wisc.edu/wiki/index.php/Madison_Math_Circle_Abstracts#October_12_2015 Eight Dimensional Oranges]  
| October 16, 2017 || Mihaela Ifrim || [https://www.math.wisc.edu/wiki/index.php/Madison_Math_Circle_Abstracts#October_16_2017 Escape of the Clones! ]  
|-
|-
| October 19, 2015 || <s>Keith Rush</s> || CANCELLED
| October 23, 2017 || [https://www.math.wisc.edu/~mrjulian/ Ryan Julian] || [https://www.math.wisc.edu/wiki/index.php/Madison_Math_Circle_Abstracts#October_23_2017 Recursion for Fun and Profit]
|-
|-
| October 26, 2015 || Megan Maguire || [https://www.math.wisc.edu/wiki/index.php/Madison_Math_Circle_Abstracts#October_26_2015 Aperiodic tilings: Beyond your parents' bathroom floor]  
| October 30, 2017 || [https://sites.google.com/wisc.edu/jwg John Wiltshire-Gordon] || [https://www.math.wisc.edu/wiki/index.php/Madison_Math_Circle_Abstracts#October_30_2017 Euler Characteristic ]  
|-
|-
| November 2, 2015 || Marko Budisic|| [https://www.math.wisc.edu/wiki/index.php/Madison_Math_Circle_Abstracts#November_2_2015 Mathematics of GPS satellites]  
| November 6, 2017 || [https://sites.google.com/site/uwwanlin/ Wanlin Li]  || [https://www.math.wisc.edu/wiki/index.php/Madison_Math_Circle_Abstracts#November_6_2017 How to Outsmart a State Test? ]  
|-
|-
| November 9, 2015 || Tess Anderson || [https://www.math.wisc.edu/wiki/index.php/Madison_Math_Circle_Abstracts#November_9_2015  Gold Coins and Goats]  
| November 13, 2017 || Jean-Luc Thiffeault || [https://www.math.wisc.edu/wiki/index.php/Madison_Math_Circle_Abstracts#November_13_2017 Goldbug Variations ]
|-
|-
| November 16, 2015 || DJ Bruce || [https://www.math.wisc.edu/wiki/index.php/Madison_Math_Circle_Abstracts#November_16_2015 To Infinity And Beyond?]  
| November 20, 2017 || Ethan Beihl  || [https://www.math.wisc.edu/wiki/index.php/Madison_Math_Circle_Abstracts#November_20_2017 Boomerang Sequences ]  
|-
|-
| November 23, 2015 || Prof. Tullia Dymarz (Last meeting of fall) || [https://www.math.wisc.edu/wiki/index.php/Madison_Math_Circle_Abstracts#November_23_2015 TBA]
! colspan="3" style="background: #e8b2b2;" align="center" | Spring 2018
|-
! colspan="3" style="background: #e8b2b2;" align="center" | Spring 2016
|-
|-
! Date !! Speaker !! Topic
! Date !! Speaker !! Topic
|-
|-
| February 1, 2016 || Will Mitchell || [https://www.math.wisc.edu/wiki/index.php/Madison_Math_Circle_Abstracts#February_1_2016 Are these networks the same?]
|January 29, 2018 || Brandon Boggess || [https://www.math.wisc.edu/wiki/index.php/Madison_Math_Circle_Abstracts#January_29_2018 ]  
|-
| February 8, 2016 || Lalit Jain || [[#TBA | TBA]]
|-
| February 15, 2016 || Prof. Jordan Ellenberg || [[#TBA | TBA]]  
|-
|-
| February 22, 2016 || Soumya Sankar || [[#Soumya Sankar | TBA]]  
| February 5, 2018  || Ben Wright  || [https://www.math.wisc.edu/wiki/index.php/Madison_Math_Circle_Abstracts#February_5_2018  ]  
|-
|-
| February 29, 2016 || Alexandra (Sashka) Kjuchukova || [[#Alexandra (Sashka) Kjuchukova | TBA]]  
| February 12, 2018 || || [https://www.math.wisc.edu/wiki/index.php/Madison_Math_Circle_Abstracts#February_12_2018  ]  
|-
|-
| March 7, 2016 || Alisha Zachariah || [[#Alisha Zachariah | TBA]]  
| February 19, 2018 || || [https://www.math.wisc.edu/wiki/index.php/Madison_Math_Circle_Abstracts#February_19_2018 ]  
|-
|-
| March 14, 2016 || Chiara Franceschini || [[#Chiara Franceschini | TBA]]  
| February 26, 2018 || || [https://www.math.wisc.edu/wiki/index.php/Madison_Math_Circle_Abstracts#February_26_2018 ]  
|-
|-
| March 21, 2016 || No Meeting (Spring Break) ||  
| March 5, 2018 || Kit Newton || [https://www.math.wisc.edu/wiki/index.php/Madison_Math_Circle_Abstracts#March_5_2018 ]
|-
|-
| March 28, 2016 || No Meeting (Spring Break) ||  
| March 12, 2018 ||   || [https://www.math.wisc.edu/wiki/index.php/Madison_Math_Circle_Abstracts#March_12_2018 ]
|-
|-
| April 4, 2016 || Becky Eastham || [[#Becky Eastham | TBA]]
| March 19, 2018 || No Meeting - (Spring Break) ||  
|-
|-
| April 11, 2016 || Andrew Kidd || [[#TBA | TBA]]
| March 26, 2018 || No Meeting - (Spring Break) ||  
|-
|-
| April 18, 2016 || Solly Parenti || [[#Solly Parenti | TBA]]  
| April 2, 2018 || || [https://www.math.wisc.edu/wiki/index.php/Madison_Math_Circle_Abstracts#April_2_2018 ]  
|-
|-
| April 25, 2016 || Prof. Betsy Stovall || [[#Betsy Stovall | TBA]]  
| April 9, 2018 || || [https://www.math.wisc.edu/wiki/index.php/Madison_Math_Circle_Abstracts#April_9_2018 ]  
|-
|-
| May 2, 2016 || Jen Beichman || [[#Jen Beichman| TBA]]
|}
|}


</center>
</center>


=High School Meetings=
=Off-Site Meetings=


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!
We will hold some Math Circle meetings at local high schools on early release days.  Our schedule for 2017-2018 has not yet been determined.  If you are interesting in having us come to your high school, please contact us!


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{| 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="5" style="background: #e8b2b2;" align="center" | Fall 2015
! colspan="5" style="background: #e8b2b2;" align="center" | Fall 2017
|-
|-
|-
|-
! Date !! Location !! Speaker !! Topic !! Link for more info
! Date !! Time !! Location !! Speaker !! Topic  
|-
|-
| September 28, 2015 || 2:45pm East High || Daniel Erman || [https://www.math.wisc.edu/wiki/index.php/Madison_Math_Circle_Abstracts#September_28_2015_2 How to Catch a (data) thief] ||
| October 2nd || 2:45pm|| East High School - Madison, WI || [http://www.math.wisc.edu/~moises/ Moisés Herradón]  || [https://www.math.wisc.edu/wiki/index.php/Madison_Math_Circle_Abstracts#October_2_2017_.28East_High_School.29 How to make it as a Hackenbush player in the planet Zubenelgenubi 4]  
|-
|-
| October 19, 2015 || 2:45pm East High || Carolyn Abbott || [https://www.math.wisc.edu/wiki/index.php/Madison_Math_Circle_Abstracts#October_19_2015 Donuts and Coffee Cups] ||
| November 2nd || 9:30am || Wisconsin Institute for Discovery - Madison, WI || [http://www.math.wisc.edu/~rzachariah/ Alisha Zachariah]  ||  
[https://www.math.wisc.edu/wiki/index.php/Madison_Math_Circle_Abstracts#November_2_2017_.28WID.29_-_1 Fractals, Fractions and Fibonnaci.]
|-
|-
! colspan="5" style="background: #e8b2b2;" align="center" | Spring 2016
| November 2nd (Canceled) || 11:00am || Wisconsin Institute for Discovery - Madison, WI || [http://zachcharles.wordpress.com Zach Charles]  ||
[https://www.math.wisc.edu/wiki/index.php/Madison_Math_Circle_Abstracts#November_2_2017_.28WID.29_-_2 1+1 = 10 or "How does my computer do anything?"]
|-
|-
| November 2nd || 6:00pm ||  Whitewater High School - Whitewater, WI || [http://www.math.wisc.edu/~juliettebruce Juliette Bruce]  || 
[https://www.math.wisc.edu/wiki/index.php/Madison_Math_Circle_Abstracts#November_2_2017_.28Whitewater.29 Doodling Daydreams]
|-
|-
! Date !! Location !! Speaker !! Topic !! Link for more info
| November 3rd || 10:30am || KM Global - Wales, WI || [http://www.math.wisc.edu/~stovall/ Betsy Stovall] ||
[https://www.math.wisc.edu/wiki/index.php/Madison_Math_Circle_Abstracts#November_3_2017_.28KM_Global.29 Recent discoveries in mathematics]
|-
|-
| February 22, 2016 || 2:45pm Memorial High || TBD || TBD ||
| November 27th || 2:45pm|| JMM High School - Madison, WI || [http://www.math.wisc.edu/~juliettebruce Juliette Bruce]  ||  
[https://www.math.wisc.edu/wiki/index.php/Madison_Math_Circle_Abstracts#November_27_2017_.28JMM_High_School.29 Is any knot not the unknot?]
|-
|-
| April 18, 2016 || 2:45pm Memorial High || TBD || TBD ||
| December 11th || 2:45pm|| East High School - Madison, WI || [https://sites.google.com/wisc.edu/jwg John Wiltshire-Gordon] ||
[https://www.math.wisc.edu/wiki/index.php/Madison_Math_Circle_Abstracts#December_11_2017_.28East_High_School.29 What if seven is zero?]
|-
|-
|}
</center>


<!--
! colspan="5" style="background: #e8b2b2;" align="center" | Spring 2018
== Abstracts ==
<center>
{| style="color:black; font-size:100%" table border="2" cellpadding="10" width="700" cellspacing="20"
|-
|-
| bgcolor="#e8b2b2" align="center" style="font-size:125%" | '''Prof. Daniel Erman'''
|-
|-
| bgcolor="#BDBDBD"  align="center" | '''Title: How to Catch a (Data) Thief'''
! Date !! Time !! Location !! Speaker !! Topic
|-
|-
| bgcolor="#BDBDBD" |  
| Date TBD || Location TBD || Speaker TBD || Topic TBD ||
I will discuss some surprising statistical facts that have been used to catch companies that lie about data.
 
|}                                                                       
 
 
{| style="color:black; font-size:100%" table border="2" cellpadding="10" width="700" cellspacing="20"
|-
|-
| bgcolor="#e8b2b2" align="center" style="font-size:125%" | '''Carolyn Abbott'''
|}
|-
| bgcolor="#BDBDBD"  align="center" | '''Title: Donuts and coffee cups: the topology of surfaces'''
|-
| bgcolor="#BDBDBD"  | 
A classic problem in topology is to decide whether one surfaces can be deformed into another, without creating any holes or connecting any new points (stretching and bending is allowed!).  If you can do so, such surfaces are considered 'the same.' We will formalize this notion and classify all closed surfaces, along the way answering such questions as whether a coffee cup is the same as a donut.
 
|}                            
</center>
</center>


= Abstracts =
=Useful Resources=
==Annual Reports==
[https://www.math.wisc.edu/wiki/images/Math_Circle_Newsletter.pdf  2013-2014 Annual Report]


== September 14, 2015  ==
== Archived Abstracts ==
<center>
{| style="color:black; font-size:100%" table border="2" cellpadding="10" width="700" cellspacing="20"
|-
| bgcolor="#e8b2b2" align="center" style="font-size:125%" | '''David Sondak'''
|-
| bgcolor="#BDBDBD"  align="center" | '''Title: How to SEE Sound'''
|-
| bgcolor="#BDBDBD"  | 
The idea is to give a simple overview of sound waves by introducing sines and cosines and some of their basic anatomy (amplitude and frequency).  We will then have a computational component where the students create their own sound waves by fiddling with parameters in the sines and cosines (again, amplitude, frequency and different superpositions of the sines and cosines). They will actually be able to see plots of their waves AND listen to their waves.  Finally, if time permits, the students will use their own sound waves to make Oobleck dance.  This will bring the exercise full circle in that they will be able to see their very own sound waves in action.
|}                                                                       
</center>
 
== September 21, 2015 ==
<center>
{| style="color:black; font-size:100%" table border="2" cellpadding="10" width="700" cellspacing="20"
|-
| bgcolor="#e8b2b2" align="center" style="font-size:125%" | '''Prof. Uri Andrews'''
|-
| bgcolor="#BDBDBD"  align="center" | '''Title: Guarding Mona Lias'''
|-
| bgcolor="#BDBDBD"  | 
You have gotten a tip that a famous art thief is going to steal something from the Louvre. It is your task to organize a security team that can watch all the works of art. The problem is that the Louvre is really big and has a strange layout. Where do you put your guards? And how many do you need?
|}                                                                       
</center>
 
== September 28, 2015 ==
<center>
{| style="color:black; font-size:100%" table border="2" cellpadding="10" width="700" cellspacing="20"
|-
| bgcolor="#e8b2b2" align="center" style="font-size:125%" | '''Eva Elduque'''
|-
| bgcolor="#BDBDBD"  align="center" | '''Title: Pick's Theorem'''
|-
| bgcolor="#BDBDBD"  | 
In this talk, we will a very easy formula that allows us to quickly compute the areas of polygons whose vertices are points of a grid, and we will prove that this formula works. (Solutions to the worksheet distributed during the circle can be found [[File:Pick.pdf]].)
|}                                                                       
</center>
 
== October 5, 2015 ==
<center>
{| style="color:black; font-size:100%" table border="2" cellpadding="10" width="700" cellspacing="20"
|-
| bgcolor="#e8b2b2" align="center" style="font-size:125%" | '''Jessica Lin'''
|-
| bgcolor="#BDBDBD"  align="center" | '''Title: The Math of Sudoku'''
|-
| bgcolor="#BDBDBD"  | 
Have you ever sat next to someone in the airport or airplane who plays sudoku? Have you ever tried to play yourself? When you play, do you have some strategies that help you to complete the puzzle? It turns out that there is some deep mathematics behind this simple game. Come to math circle this week to learn about it, and maybe you can help the person next to you solve his/her sudoku!
 
|}                                                                       
</center>


== October 12, 2015 ==
[https://www.math.wisc.edu/wiki/index.php/Madison_Math_Circle_2016-2017 2016 - 2017 Math Circle Page]
<center>
{| style="color:black; font-size:100%" table border="2" cellpadding="10" width="700" cellspacing="20"
|-
| bgcolor="#e8b2b2" align="center" style="font-size:125%" | '''Ryan Julian'''
|-
| bgcolor="#BDBDBD"  align="center" | '''Title: The Geometry of Hockeysticks and Eight Dimensional Oranges'''
|-
| bgcolor="#BDBDBD"  | 
Like most people, I've often considered opening an eight dimensional grocery store. Of course, the main difficulty with this plan is that I'd need some way of neatly stacking all of the eight dimensional fruit that I'd be selling. In this talk, we'll explore a variety of elementary counting problems, discover that nearly all elementary counting problems are really the same problem, and we'll apply these new insights to determine how to stack 8 dimensional fruits into neat 8 dimensional pyramids.
|}                                                                       
</center>


[https://www.math.wisc.edu/wiki/index.php/Madison_Math_Circle_Abstracts_2016-2017 2016 - 2017 Abstracts]


== October 26, 2015 ==
[https://www.math.wisc.edu/wiki/index.php/Madison_Math_Circle_2015-2016 2015 - 2016 Math Circle Page]
<center>
{| style="color:black; font-size:100%" table border="2" cellpadding="10" width="700" cellspacing="20"
|-
| bgcolor="#e8b2b2" align="center" style="font-size:125%" | '''Megan Maguire'''
|-
| bgcolor="#BDBDBD"  align="center" | '''Title: Aperiodic tilings: Beyond your parents' bathroom floor'''
|-
| bgcolor="#BDBDBD"  | 
A tiling is a way of covering the plane with geometric shapes such that there are no overlaps or gaps. If you have any tile in your home (maybe in your kitchen or bathroom) that is most likely an example of a tiling. Come learn about the cool math behind tilings and about the coolest tiling of all, the Penrose tiling.


|}                                                                       
[https://www.math.wisc.edu/wiki/index.php/Math_Circle_de_Madison_2015-2016 2015 - 2016 Math Circle Page (Spanish)]
</center>


== November 2, 2015 ==
[https://www.math.wisc.edu/wiki/index.php/Madison_Math_Circle_Abstracts_2015-2016 2015 - 2015 Abstracts]
<center>
{| style="color:black; font-size:100%" table border="2" cellpadding="10" width="700" cellspacing="20"
|-
| bgcolor="#e8b2b2" align="center" style="font-size:125%" | '''Marko Budisic'''
|-
| bgcolor="#BDBDBD"  align="center" | '''Title: Mathematics of GPS Satellites'''
|-
| bgcolor="#BDBDBD"  | 
GPS is a system of satellites circling the Earth at a height 12,500 miles. That means you could easily fit both Mars and Venus in the distance between your phone and each car-sized satellite hovering in space. Once considered science fiction, GPS is now a part of our everyday life: we can use it through our phones, through our car navigation, and even some watches. Simple math equations lie at the heart of this system, and we will write them down, understand what they mean, and figure out how to solve them.
|}                                                                       
</center>


== November 9, 2015 ==
<center>
{| style="color:black; font-size:100%" table border="2" cellpadding="10" width="700" cellspacing="20"
|-
| bgcolor="#e8b2b2" align="center" style="font-size:125%" | '''Tess Anderson'''
|-
| bgcolor="#BDBDBD"  align="center" | '''Title: Gold Coins and Goast'''
|-
| bgcolor="#BDBDBD"  | 
What do pulling gold coins out of a a hat have to do with the famous Monty Hall "Goat Problem" in which you are a game show contestant trying to pick out the one prize hidden behind one of three doors?  Come and find out while savoring some chocolate gold coins.  We will also discuss a jailer problem in which an infinite number of jailers try to free an infinite number of prisoners.  If time permits, other fun problems will be discussed.
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== November 16, 2015 ==
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{| style="color:black; font-size:100%" table border="2" cellpadding="10" width="700" cellspacing="20"
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| bgcolor="#e8b2b2" align="center" style="font-size:125%" | '''DJ Bruce'''
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| bgcolor="#BDBDBD"  align="center" | '''Title: To Infinity and Beyond?'''
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| bgcolor="#BDBDBD"  | 
1, 2, 3,..., infinity? What is infinity? Is infinity plus one bigger than infinity? Beginning by figuring out what we mean when we say to collections of objects have the same number of things we will slowly work our way deep into the world of infinity. This world is often weird and counterintuitive, and we shall explore it!
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== February 1, 2016 ==
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{| style="color:black; font-size:100%" table border="2" cellpadding="10" width="700" cellspacing="20"
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| bgcolor="#e8b2b2" align="center" style="font-size:125%" | '''Will Mitchell'''
|-
| bgcolor="#BDBDBD"  align="center" | '''Title: Are these networks the same?'''
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| bgcolor="#BDBDBD"  | 
The question of deciding whether two things are the same comes up in many different places in math.  In this session we'll consider the problem of deciding if two networks or "graphs" are the same.  This leads to some entertaining and challenging puzzles.  We will also learn a bit about how people try to solve similar problems using computers.  This problem has applications in the design of electronic circuits and in searching for organic chemical compounds within large databases.
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-->
<!--
=Contact Information Form=
[https://fs18.formsite.com/crabbott/form1/index.html Link to Contact Information Form]
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=Useful Resources=
==Annual Reports==
[https://www.math.wisc.edu/wiki/images/Math_Circle_Newsletter.pdf  2013-2014 Annual Report]
== Archived Abstracts ==
[[Archived Math Circle Material]]
[[Archived Math Circle Material]]



Revision as of 20:46, 22 January 2018

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For the site in Spanish, visit Math Circle de Madison

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!

We have a weekly meeting, 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, so 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).


Directions and parking

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

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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. Send an empty email to join-mathcircle@lists.wisc.edu

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. As noted in our 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:

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 just pay 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:

  • 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.

Meetings for Fall 2017 and Spring 2018

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

Fall 2017
Date Speaker Topic
September 18, 2017 Daniel Erman Welcome to the Madison Math Circle!
September 25, 2017 Betsy Stovall Math is a game!
October 2, 2017 Rachel Davis Thinking outside the box
October 9, 2017 Solly Parenti Hackenbush
October 16, 2017 Mihaela Ifrim Escape of the Clones!
October 23, 2017 Ryan Julian Recursion for Fun and Profit
October 30, 2017 John Wiltshire-Gordon Euler Characteristic
November 6, 2017 Wanlin Li How to Outsmart a State Test?
November 13, 2017 Jean-Luc Thiffeault Goldbug Variations
November 20, 2017 Ethan Beihl Boomerang Sequences
Spring 2018
Date Speaker Topic
January 29, 2018 Brandon Boggess [1]
February 5, 2018 Ben Wright [2]
February 12, 2018 [3]
February 19, 2018 [4]
February 26, 2018 [5]
March 5, 2018 Kit Newton [6]
March 12, 2018 [7]
March 19, 2018 No Meeting - (Spring Break)
March 26, 2018 No Meeting - (Spring Break)
April 2, 2018 [8]
April 9, 2018 [9]

Off-Site Meetings

We will hold some Math Circle meetings at local high schools on early release days. Our schedule for 2017-2018 has not yet been determined. If you are interesting in having us come to your high school, please contact us!

Fall 2017
Date Time Location Speaker Topic
October 2nd 2:45pm East High School - Madison, WI Moisés Herradón How to make it as a Hackenbush player in the planet Zubenelgenubi 4
November 2nd 9:30am Wisconsin Institute for Discovery - Madison, WI Alisha Zachariah

Fractals, Fractions and Fibonnaci.

November 2nd (Canceled) 11:00am Wisconsin Institute for Discovery - Madison, WI Zach Charles

1+1 = 10 or "How does my computer do anything?"

November 2nd 6:00pm Whitewater High School - Whitewater, WI Juliette Bruce

Doodling Daydreams

November 3rd 10:30am KM Global - Wales, WI Betsy Stovall

Recent discoveries in mathematics

November 27th 2:45pm JMM High School - Madison, WI Juliette Bruce

Is any knot not the unknot?

December 11th 2:45pm East High School - Madison, WI John Wiltshire-Gordon

What if seven is zero?

Spring 2018
Date Time Location Speaker Topic
Date TBD Location TBD Speaker TBD Topic TBD

Useful Resources

Annual Reports

2013-2014 Annual Report

Archived Abstracts

2016 - 2017 Math Circle Page

2016 - 2017 Abstracts

2015 - 2016 Math Circle Page

2015 - 2016 Math Circle Page (Spanish)

2015 - 2015 Abstracts

Archived Math Circle Material

Link for presenters (in progress)

Advice For Math Circle Presenters

Sample Lesson Plans

"Circle in a Box"