Termcard for Hilary Term 2016

Combinatorics and the Fourier Transform

Week 1, Tuesday 19 January HT 2016
8:15pm
L2, Mathematical Institute

Hilary Term 2016 Social

Week 2, Tuesday 26 January HT 2016
8:15pm
Common Room, Mathematical Institute

Join in us in the common room at the Mathematical Institute for free pizza, snacks and drinks. This event is open to members only (and lifetime membership will be available on the door for £15 as usual).

How to solve a problem by making it harder

Week 3, Tuesday 2 February HT 2016
8:15pm
L2, Mathematical Institute

Surprisingly, sometimes the way to make progress on a mathematical problem is to tackle a harder problem instead. I’ll describe an example of such a problem from number theory that has led to some beautiful mathematics, involving ideas that at first sight seem to have nothing to do with the integers. We’ll also see an application of the important fact that 1 is the smallest positive integer.

Curves – An Introduction to Algebraic Geometry and Topological String Theory

Week 4, Tuesday 9 February HT 2016
8:15pm
L2, Mathematical Institute

For centuries mathematicians have generalised statements like “there is a unique line through any 2 points”, but with increasing technical difficulties. It was not until the late 1990s that new ideas from symplectic geometry and string theory allowed rigorous definitions to be made of these “curve counting problems”.

Smashing the racket: Detecting match-fixing in tennis via in-play betting irregularities

Week 5, Tuesday 16 February HT 2016
8:15pm
L2, Mathematical Institute

This talk summarises the results of a match-fixing study spanning over 5,000 in-play tennis betting markets. After developing a natural point-by-point probabilistic model, featuring novel mechanisms for selecting parameters robustly from the data, we demonstrate that the observed market trajectories correlate extremely closely with this model.

80th Anniversary Dinner

Week 5, Friday 19 February HT 2016
8:00pm
Balliol College

We will be following our 80th Anniversary lecture by a formal dinner at Balliol College. Over dinner, Prof. Robin Wilson will be giving a brief talk on ‘80 years of the Invariant Society’. The dress code for this event is smart. The dinner is open to everyone. The cost of dinner is £35 per person.

80th Anniversary Lecture

Week 5, Friday 19 February HT 2016
5:30pm
L2, Mathematical Institute

To celebrate the 80th Anniversary of the Invariants society, we are hosting a special lecture and dinner with Prof. Robin Wilson. The lecture will be free for everyone, both members and non members. Lifetime membership will still be available on the door for £15 for those who wish to join the society.

Tropical Geometry

Week 6, Tuesday 23 February HT 2016
8:15pm
L2, Mathematical Institute

Tropical geometry is a combinatorial shadow of algebraic geometry. It is geometry over the tropical semiring, where multiplication is replaced by addition, and addition is replaced by minimum.

How Fourier series inspired transfinite induction

Week 7, Tuesday 1 March HT 2016
8:15pm
L2, Mathematical Institute

Transfinite induction is a process which extends ordinary induction beyond the natural numbers, for certain types of inductive hypothesis. It was first formulated by Cantor, inspired by a question about Fourier series put to him in 1869.

Annual General Meeting 2016

Week 8, Tuesday 8 March HT 2016
8:15pm
Common Room, Mathematical Institute

The AGM is a chance for members to make their mark on the society by raising important issues or running for committee positions. We are holding elections for every committee position, so come along and get involved. Our Annual General Meeting in the Common Room upstairs.