Termcard for Hilary Term 1997

Tuesday 1^st Week
Dr. Peter Braam (Carnegie Mellon) “Consistency Guarantees in Networked Filesystems”
Networked filesystems have to balance performance against consistency guarantees about the currency of the data. Dr. Braam will explore a variety of models for networked filesystems and discuss the problems encountered when analysing the correctness and implementation of such systems.

Tuesday 2^nd Week
Ice-Skating Outing
Meet outside the Maths Institute at 8pm (or catch us up at Carfax at 8:15). There will be a charge og £4.50 at the ice rink.

Tuesday 3^rd Week
Debate “This House deplores the lack of vocational training in the Oxford mathematics course”
With invited Speakers.

Tuesday 4^th Week
Dr. Michael Richards (LMH) “Number Theory: 4000 Years in 4000 Seconds”
That such simple mathematical objects as natural numbers have such rich and intricate properties has been a source of fascination since biblical times. Dr. Richards will explore the development of “the higher arithmetic”, demonstrating a tiny fraction of its beauty and power.

Sunday 5^th Week
Archimedeans’ Problems Drive
This annual event hosted by our Cambridge counterparts is always an
enjoyable occasion. Questions from previous years’ Problems Drives will
be on display after each of our meetings this term to help you find the
right frame of mind. If you are interested in coming, please contact the
Secretary.

Tuesday 5^th Week
Members’ Papers Evening Lecture Room B, Worcester College
If you would like to speak, please contact the secretary in advance.

Friday 5^th Week
Dr. Robin Wilson (Keble) A Mathematical Walking Tour of Oxford
Join us exploring some of Oxford’s hidden mathematical treasures, including Sir Christopher Wren’s ingenious design of the flat ceiling in the Sheldonian Theatre, which hangs without support from above or below. Meet outside the Maths Institute at 2pm.

Tuesday 6^th Week
Professor Peter Donnelly (Statistics) “Statistics and DNA Identification”
There has been considerable controversy, both in the courts and in the scientific literature, about statistical methods used in connection with DNA profiling in forensic identification. Moreover, inference in this context raises interesting and at times apparently paradoxical problems in probability. Professor Donnelly will discuss these questions, illustrating them with examples from trial and appeal cases.

Tuesday 7^th Week
Dr. John Coleman (Wolfson) “Analysis of Speech using Dynamic Programming”
Conventional techniques for analysis and synthesis of speech involve manually dividing the speech signal into consonants and vowels, but this method is highly problematic. Dr. Coleman will examine how pairs of very similar sounding words can be characterised without manual segmentation, revealing surprising differences even between identical syllables. Does this more holistic approach to analysis have a corresponding synthesis method?
Followed by The Annual General Meeting

Tuesday 8^th Week
Dr. Jonathan Mestel (Imperial College) “Mathematics and the Game of Bridge”
Can all four twos win tricks on the same hand? What does paradimethylaminobenzaldehyde have to do with it? Why is 4/3(22^35-1)+1 a relevant number? If you don’t want to know, don’t come.