By Jade McDowell
Spending a part of the weekend at a math research conference may not sound exciting to non-math majors, but participants in this weekend”s conference should find plenty of interesting topics to hold their attention.
The Spring Research Conference, hosted by the BYU mathematics department, will take place Friday and Saturday at various locations. There will be guest lectures interspersed with student presentations of research.
The main lectures are intended for a general audience and include lighter topics such as sudoku puzzles, symmetry patterns and knot tying.
Michael Dorff, the event”s organizer, said people would probably be most interested in the lecture on sudoku, the “newest field of recreational mathematics.”
Laura Taalman, a sudoku expert from James Madison University who has written several puzzles herself, will be discussing many of the problems sudoku enthusiasts face as well as the mathematical applications. The lecture is at 11:00 a.m. on Friday in the Varsity Theater and there will be puzzle handouts for all to enjoy.
Dorff said he is also looking forward to the presentation by professor Colin Adams of Williams College titled “Blown Away: What Knot to Do When Sailing.” Adams will be giving a dramatic performance as Sir Randolph Bacon III, a comedic sailor who owes his life to his knowledge of the mathematical theory of knots.
“No background in math or tying knots is assumed, so it should be a fun one,” Dorff said.
The conference is also a time for undergraduate and graduate students to show off their pet projects. Brian Rush, a 24-year-old math major from South Jordan, said he is excited to present at the conference. His presentation is about the possible shapes of the universe.
“I love talking about these subdivision rules so I signed up as soon as the registration page was open,” he said. “I think these images are beautiful, and I want people to know about them.”
Kadi Kleinlein, a math education major from Grapevine, Texas said although the guest lectures are fun, one of the best parts of the conference is seeing what her fellow mathematics majors are working on.
“What I”m most looking forward to is hearing the students at BYU and seeing what the undergraduates are accomplishing,” she said.
For a complete conference schedule, go to curm.byu.edu/2009conference/sec5.html.
