Women in Mathematics
Women in Mathematics Seminar
Background:
The mission of the Seminar for Women in Mathematics is to provide a relaxed, supportive and stress-free environment in which women graduate students, advanced undergraduate students, postdocs and faculty in the department can interact. It also provides a place where women may give talks and discuss mathematics at a level accessible to all graduate students.
Format:
The speakers for the seminar are female, usually graduate students or postdocs in the mathematics department. Talks range in length from 30 to 50 minutes, and are at the beginning graduate level. Talks may be on any mathematical topic, and need not represent original research.
Room / Time
Meeting room: 347 Altgeld Hall
Meeting time: 12-12:50pm Friday
Schedule for Spring 2009
- January 23: Organization meeting
- February 13: Mee Seong Im
Title: On Algebraic Surfaces
Abstract: I will quickly discuss the most important invariants on compact complex surfaces. There is a fairly complete description of all classes of surfaces classified by Federigo Enriques and Kunihiko Kodaira, except the ones of general type. I will state the classification of algebraic surfaces and then discuss moduli of surfaces of general type.
- February 27: Szu-Yin Yeh
Title: Quasi-conformal mappings and quasi-symmetric mappings.
Abstract: I will start with an introduction of quasiconformal mappings and quasisymmetric mappings. Then I will talk about their extension problems. For example, when does a quasiconformal mapping on a domain D in the Euclidean space R^n have a quasiconformal extension to R^n?
- March 20: Chia-Yen Tsai
Title: From your closet to Teichmuller space.
Abstract: This will be an introduction to Teichmuller space and the mapping class group. Instead of giving definitions, I will explain how to "see" the space. Continuing the same idea, we will see how the mapping class group acts on Teichmuller space. In particular, we will talk about the action of pseudo-Anosov mapping classes, which are non-periodic and irreducible. To obtain more intuition, I will construct some pseudo-Anosov mapping classes. On the other hand, we will use couple methods to check if a given mapping class is pseudo-Anosov.
- April 3: Aleksandra (Ola) Kwiatkowska
Title: Actions and Boolean actions of Polish groups.
Abstract: I will first give some examples of Polish groups. We consider actions of Polish groups on a measure space and measure preserving Boolean actions (we act on measurable sets modulo null sets instead of on points). The natural question is whether a Boolean action arises from an action. I will give an overview of some known results.
- April 17: Younjin Kim
Title: The number of graphs of given diameter
Abstract: Let G (n, diam = d) be the class of graphs of diameter d on n labeled vertices. Tomescu proved that |G (n, diam = d)| = 2( n 2 ) (6 · 2− d + o(1))n for any fixed d ≥ 3 as n → ∞. We give an exact asymptotic and extend his result for (almost) all d and n. This is joint work with Z. Furedi.
- May 1:Ida Svejdarova
Title: Graph coloring and the probabilistic method in combinatorics.
Abstract: As the title suggests, the focus of this talk will be two-fold. Graph coloring is one of the most classical areas of combinatorial research, initiated with the Four Color conjecture in 1850's. Various variations of the classical problem arose since then, most motivated by real world applications. Meanwhile, the probabilistic method, pioneered by Erdos in the 60's, is among the most important tools used in modern combinatorics. I will introduce the method and show examples of simple proofs that this method yields for some graph coloring results. One of the results presented is my recent joint work with Z. Furedi. The talk will be accessible to everybody.
- May 1: Sylvia Carlisle, Merc Chasman, Elizabeth Csima and Valerie Peterson
Title: Applying for academic jobs: a panel discussion
Abstract: We'll give a brief overview of what to expect during the application process (including an approximate timeline, where to find listings, how to prepare materials, what to expect during interviews, etc) and then invite your questions. Several finishing grad students and a postdoc will be on hand to answer your inquiries and offer advice about how to be a savvy candidate. Students who think they might be finishing in the next academic year are particularly encouraged to attend.
Previous seminars
Fun Activities
- Dessert Night: 7:00-9:00pm on March 19, 2009 (Thursday) at Sylvia's place.
One of the department's most anticipated ongoing
traditions (and by far the tastiest).
Useful links
For more information or any question contact:
Merc or Chia-yen
Last updated: 1/22/09