Madison Math Circle: Difference between revisions

From UW-Math Wiki
Jump to navigation Jump to search
No edit summary
(310 intermediate revisions by 11 users not shown)
Line 1: Line 1:
[[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.
Line 10: Line 13:
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.
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:''' http://host.madison.com/wsj/news/local/education/local_schools/school-spotlight-madison-math-circle-gives-young-students-a-taste/article_77f5c042-0b3d-11e1-ba5f-001cc4c03286.html
'''The Madison Math circle was featured in Wisconsin State Journal:''' [http://host.madison.com/wsj/news/local/education/local_schools/school-spotlight-madison-math-circle-gives-young-students-a-taste/article_77f5c042-0b3d-11e1-ba5f-001cc4c03286.html check it out]!


=All right, I want to come!=
=All right, I want to come!=
Line 16: Line 19:
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_e9WdAs2SXNurWFD '''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).
Line 24: Line 27:


==Directions and parking==
==Directions and parking==
Meetings are held in 3255 Helen C. White Hall.
Our meetings are held on the 3rd floor of Helen C. White Hall in room 3255.


<div class="center" style="width:auto; margin-left:auto; margin-right:auto;">
<div class="center" style="width:auto; margin-left:auto; margin-right:auto;">
Line 39: Line 42:


==Email list==
==Email list==
The best way to keep up to date with the what is going is by signing up for our email list: https://lists.math.wisc.edu/listinfo/math-circle
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==
==Contact the organizers==
If you have any questions, suggestions for topics, or so on, just email the '''organizers''' (DJ Bruce, Gheorghe Craciun, Eva Elduque Daniel Erman, Ryan Julian, and Philip Matchett Wood): [mailto:math-circle-organizers@math.wisc.edu math-circle-organizers@math.wisc.edu]. 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>
<center>
<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
File:Betsy.jpg|[http://www.math.wisc.edu/~stovall/ Prof. Betsy Stovall]
File:Craciun.jpg
</gallery>
</gallery>


<gallery widths=480px heights=240px mode="packed">
<gallery widths=500px heights=250px mode="packed">
File:dj.jpg
File:juliettebruce.jpg|[http://www.math.wisc.edu/~juliettebruce/ Juliette Bruce]
File:Ee.jpg
File:Ee.jpg|[http://www.math.wisc.edu/~evaelduque/ Eva Elduque]
File:mrjulian.jpg
File:mrjulian.jpg|[http://www.math.wisc.edu/~mrjulian/ Ryan Julian]
 
File:soumyasankar.jpg|[http://www.math.wisc.edu/~soumyasankar Soumya Sankar]
</gallery>
</gallery>
</center>
</center>


==Donations==
==Donations==
Please consider donating to the Madison Math Circle. As noted in our [https://www.math.wisc.edu/wiki/images/Math_Circle_Newsletter.pdf annual report], our main costs consist of pizza and occasional supplies for the speakers.  Our costs have been covered so far by donations from the UW Math Department plus 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.
Please consider donating to the Madison Math Circle. As noted in our [https://www.math.wisc.edu/wiki/images/Math_Circle_Newsletter.pdf 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:
So please consider donating to support your math circle!  The easiest way to donate is to go to the link:
Line 79: Line 81:
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 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 2018
|-
|-
! 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 17, 2018 || Sun Woo Park || Why are Donuts and Cream Puffs "different"?
|-
| 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 28, 2015 || Eva Elduque|| [https://www.math.wisc.edu/wiki/index.php/Madison_Math_Circle_Abstracts#September_28_2015  ''Pick's Theorem'']
|-
| 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 12, 2015 || Ryan Julian || [https://www.math.wisc.edu/wiki/index.php/Madison_Math_Circle_Abstracts#October_12_2015 ''Eight Dimensional Oranges'']
|-
| October 19, 2015 || <s>Keith Rush</s> || CANCELLED
|-
| 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'']
|-
| 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 9, 2015 || Tess Anderson || [https://www.math.wisc.edu/wiki/index.php/Madison_Math_Circle_Abstracts#November_9_2015  ''Gold Coins and Goats'']
| September 24, 2018 || Ben Bruce || Three Cottages Problem
|-
|-
| November 16, 2015 || DJ Bruce || [https://www.math.wisc.edu/wiki/index.php/Madison_Math_Circle_Abstracts#November_16_2015 ''To Infinity And Beyond?'']
| October 1, 2018 || Kit Newton || How to calculate Pi if all you can do is throw things
|-
|-
| 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'']
| October 8, 2018 || Connor Simpson || TBD
|-
|-
! colspan="3" style="background: #e8b2b2;" align="center" | Spring 2016
| October 15, 2018 || Jean-Luc Thiffeault || TBD
|-
|-
! Date !! Speaker !! Topic
| October 22, 2018 || Patrick Nicodemus || Formal Systems in Computer Science and Logic
|-
|-
| 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?'']  
| October 29, 2018 || Moisés Herradón Cueto || Order and chaos in population sizes ([http://www.math.wisc.edu/~moises/Math_Circle_Talk.html try it yourself!])
|-
|-
| February 8, 2016 || Lalit Jain || [[#TBA | TBA]]
| November 5, 2018 || Christian Geske || Josephus Problem
|-
|-
| February 15, 2016 || Prof. Jordan Ellenberg || [[#TBA | TBA]]
| November 12, 2018 || Rachel Davis || TBD
|-
|-
| February 22, 2016 || Soumya Sankar || [[#Soumya Sankar | TBA]]
| November 19, 2018 || Uri Andrews || King Chicken
|-
|-
| February 29, 2016 || Alexandra (Sashka) Kjuchukova || [[#Alexandra (Sashka) Kjuchukova | TBA]]
|-
| March 7, 2016 || Alisha Zachariah || [[#Alisha Zachariah | TBA]]
|-
| March 14, 2016 || Chiara Franceschini || [[#Chiara Franceschini | TBA]]
|-
| March 21, 2016 || No Meeting (Spring Break) ||
|-
| March 28, 2016 || No Meeting (Spring Break) ||
|-
| April 4, 2016 || Becky Eastham || [[#Becky Eastham | TBA]]
|-
| April 11, 2016 || Andrew Kidd || [[#TBA | TBA]]
|-
| April 18, 2016 || Solly Parenti || [[#Solly Parenti | TBA]]
|-
| April 25, 2016 || Prof. Betsy Stovall || [[#Betsy Stovall | TBA]]
|-
| May 2, 2016 || Jen Beichman || [[#Jen Beichman| TBA]]
|}
|}


</center>
</center>


=High School Meetings=
=Off-Site Meetings=
 
We will hold some Math Circle meetings at local high schools on early release days.  If you are interesting in having us come to your high school, please contact us!


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!


<center>
<center>
Line 156: Line 126:
{| 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 || How to Catch a (data) thief ||
| October 29th || 2:45pm|| East High School - Madison, WI || TBD  || TBD
|-
|-
| October 19, 2015 || 2:45pm East High || Carolyn Abbott || Donuts and Coffee Cups  ||
| December 3rd || 2:45pm|| East High School - Madison, WI || TBD || TBD
|-
! colspan="5" style="background: #e8b2b2;" align="center" | Spring 2016
|-
|-
! Date !! Location !! Speaker !! Topic !! Link for more info
|-
| February 22, 2016 || 2:45pm Memorial High || TBD || TBD ||
|-
| April 18, 2016 || 2:45pm Memorial High || TBD || TBD ||
|-
|-
|}
|}
</center>
</center>


== Abstracts ==
=Useful Resources=
<center>
==Annual Reports==
{| style="color:black; font-size:100%" table border="2" cellpadding="10" width="700" cellspacing="20"
[https://www.math.wisc.edu/wiki/images/Math_Circle_Newsletter.pdf 2013-2014 Annual Report]
|-
| bgcolor="#e8b2b2" align="center" style="font-size:125%" | '''Prof. Daniel Erman'''
|-
| bgcolor="#BDBDBD" align="center" | '''Title: How to Catch a (Data) Thief'''
|-
| bgcolor="#BDBDBD"  | 
I will discuss some surprising statistical facts that have been used to catch companies that lie about data.


|}                                                                       
== Archived Abstracts ==


[https://www.math.wisc.edu/wiki/index.php/Madison_Math_Circle_2016-2017 2016 - 2017 Math Circle Page]


{| style="color:black; font-size:100%" table border="2" cellpadding="10" width="700" cellspacing="20"
[https://www.math.wisc.edu/wiki/index.php/Madison_Math_Circle_Abstracts_2016-2017 2016 - 2017 Abstracts]
|-
| 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.


|}                           
[https://www.math.wisc.edu/wiki/index.php/Madison_Math_Circle_2015-2016 2015 - 2016 Math Circle Page]
</center>


<!--
[https://www.math.wisc.edu/wiki/index.php/Math_Circle_de_Madison_2015-2016 2015 - 2016 Math Circle Page (Spanish)]
= Abstracts =


== September 14, 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%" | '''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 ==
<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>
== October 26, 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%" | '''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.
|}                                                                       
</center>
== November 2, 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%" | '''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.
|}                                                                       
</center>
== November 16, 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%" | '''DJ Bruce'''
|-
| bgcolor="#BDBDBD"  align="center" | '''Title: To Infinity and Beyond?'''
|-
| 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!
|}                                                                       
</center>
== February 1, 2016 ==
<center>
{| style="color:black; font-size:100%" table border="2" cellpadding="10" width="700" cellspacing="20"
|-
| bgcolor="#e8b2b2" align="center" style="font-size:125%" | '''Will Mitchell'''
|-
| bgcolor="#BDBDBD"  align="center" | '''Title: Are these networks the same?'''
|-
| 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.
|}                                                                       
</center>
-->
<!--
=Contact Information Form=
[https://fs18.formsite.com/crabbott/form1/index.html Link to Contact Information Form]
-->
=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 22:09, 29 October 2018

Logo.png

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.

Helencwhitemap.png

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 2018

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

Fall 2018
Date Speaker Topic
September 17, 2018 Sun Woo Park Why are Donuts and Cream Puffs "different"?
September 24, 2018 Ben Bruce Three Cottages Problem
October 1, 2018 Kit Newton How to calculate Pi if all you can do is throw things
October 8, 2018 Connor Simpson TBD
October 15, 2018 Jean-Luc Thiffeault TBD
October 22, 2018 Patrick Nicodemus Formal Systems in Computer Science and Logic
October 29, 2018 Moisés Herradón Cueto Order and chaos in population sizes (try it yourself!)
November 5, 2018 Christian Geske Josephus Problem
November 12, 2018 Rachel Davis TBD
November 19, 2018 Uri Andrews King Chicken

Off-Site Meetings

We will hold some Math Circle meetings at local high schools on early release days. If you are interesting in having us come to your high school, please contact us!


Fall 2017
Date Time Location Speaker Topic
October 29th 2:45pm East High School - Madison, WI TBD TBD
December 3rd 2:45pm East High School - Madison, WI TBD 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"