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Mathematics

Mathematics MATH

Math and Stat Pre-registration Social

Sponsored by:
Mathematics

Are you interested in taking some Mathematics or Statistics courses next semester? Are you currently taking a Math or Stats class? Do you have a sweet tooth?

Join the Math & Stats faculty over dessert and learn about their Spring 2025 course offerings! This is a great opportunity to get more information about the different majors and minor, receive advice on planning a course of study that aligns with your dream Middlebury experience, and chat with students currently enrolled in Math and Stats courses.

We hope to see you there!

Warner 100

Closed to the Public

An Excursion in Number Theory

Sponsored by:
Mathematics

Along with geometry, number theory is one of the oldest and most revered areas of mathematics. Topics that are often studied in an elementary number theory course include triangular numbers, squares, and the Fibonacci sequence. Later topics include continued fractions and a class of equations called Pell’s equation.

Warner 105

Open to the Public

CANCELED: Möbius Inversion: From Number Theory to Topological Data Analysis

Sponsored by:
Mathematics

The classical Möbius inversion formula was introduced to number theory in 1832 by August Ferdinand Möbius. It relates two arithmetic functions (e.g., Euler’s Phi function) in terms of sums over divisors of a given integer. In 1962, Gian-Carlo Rota introduced a vast generalization of this idea for functions defined over partially ordered sets (posets). Rota applied his generalized Möbius inversion formula to numerous problems in combinatorics.

Open to the Public

Learning from monitoring networks: using statistics to aid multi-scale ecological analysis

Sponsored by:
Mathematics

In order to learn about broad scale ecological patterns, data from large-scale surveys must allow us to either estimate the correlations between the environment and an outcome and/or accurately predict ecological patterns. An important part of data collection is the sampling effort used to collect observations. Through simulations and an application using Forest Inventory Analysis data, we will see if and how sampling effort affects statistical inference and predictions under simple modeling assumptions. 

Warner 105

Open to the Public

Women in Data Science Conference

Sponsored by:
Mathematics
Please consider attending the Middlebury Women in Data Science (WiDS) 2024 conference! The conference will feature three Middlebury faculty providing lightning talks on their work in data science, an alumni panel from recent Middlebury graduates who currently work in data science positions, and a keynote talk by Assistant Professor Sarah Brown from the department of Computer Science at University of Rhode Island. Everyone is welcome to attend the WiDS conference! Food and prizes will be provided.

Franklin Environmental Center, The Orchard-Hillcrest 103

Closed to the Public

Many to One: The Costs and Benefits of Summary Measures

Sponsored by:
Mathematics
Evaluating the impact of an athlete’s performance on a team, deciding on a treatment plan for a cancer patient and evaluating how to encourage people to manage their weight are all interesting and carefully studied problems. In these examples and many others, decision makers often ultimately rely on scoring systems that reduce high dimensional data to a single value. We present the ways that scoring systems are similar across many applications, how they provide insights, how they can lead to difficulties and how they can be evaluated and improved.

Warner 101

Open to the Public

Math Colloquium Fall Series: The Mathematics of Opinion Dynamics

Sponsored by:
Mathematics
Heather Zinn-Brooks, Assistant Professor of Mathematics at Harvey Mudd College, will present a talk titled “The Mathematics of Opinion Dynamics.” Talk description: Given the large audience and the ease of sharing content, the shifts in opinion driven by online interaction have important implications for interpersonal interactions, public opinion, voting, and policy. There is a critical and growing demand to understand the mechanisms behind the spread of content online.

Warner 101

Open to the Public

Math Puzzles with Hats and Lockers

Sponsored by:
Mathematics
A talk by Professor Peter Schumer, in the Department of Mathematics and Statistics. Light refreshments will be provided. Talk description: Logic conundrums and brain teasers are nearly as old as mathematics itself. Some classic math puzzles involve liars and truth tellers, scales with a limited number of weighings, vessels holding various amounts of liquid, and river crossings with jealous spouses. In this talk we’ll discuss several variations on some colored hat puzzles plus a probabilistic problem involving numbered lockers. All are welcome to join us!

Warner 101