Hudson River Conference Draws 500

On Saturday April 6, 2013 some 500 mathematicians, students, and friends attended the 20th Annual Hudson River Undergraduate Mathematics Conference (HRUMC), hosted by Williams College, with keynote address by Princeton Professor Mangul Bhargava and over 200 other talks, most by students, in 19 parallel sessions. See the full program and the account in the Williams Record. Bhargava’s talk was followed by a celebratory lunch in Greylock.

 

On Saturday April 6, 2013 Williams College hosted the 20th Annual Hudson River Undergraduate Mathematics Conference (HRUMC). One of the first conferences of its kind, HRUMC was founded by four local schools: Siena College, Skidmore College, Union College, and Williams College. It’s a one-day conference with talks for, and mostly by, undergraduates. Over the years, HRUMC has been lucky to have some fantastic keynote speakers, including John Conway, Ron Graham, Bob Devaney, Ken Ribet, and Carl Pomerance, just to name a few. This year, we are excited to hear from Manjul Bhargava (pictured) from Princeton University who will be speaking on “How likely is it for a polynomial to take on a square value?” Student talks are 15 minutes and cover a wide range of topics. While some of the talks may discuss research the student presenter has done as part of an REU or senior thesis, most of the talks are expository. Williams last hosted the conference in 2005. We had about 500 attendees, with over 150 talks. In the years since HRUMC began, other one-day mathematics conferences have sprung up around the country, many modelled on the HRUMC format. I was a freshman at Union College during the first year of HRUMC and attended the conference at Siena College. Two years later, as a junior, I gave a talk on “Even Primes” when Skidmore hosted. This was a fun topic that my professor had shared with me, and I still cover that topic when I teach number theory today. During my senior year, the conference was held at Williams, and that was the first time I set foot on this campus. Little did I know that I’d be back six years later as a faculty member! HRUMC is a terrific opportunity for students to share their excitement about mathematics, learn about myradia exciting topics they have not had the chance to encounter yet, and become part of the mathematics community. I’m very excited to still be a part of the HRUMC experience.

Allison Pacelli is Associate Professor of Mathematics at Williams College. You can sign up to give a 15-minute talk by March 4, 2013.

 

Here is a partial program, featuring the Williams speakers:

8:30-9:45 Registration and breakfast, Science Atrium

Algebra I – BSC 103
( 1 ) 10:10 AM 10:25 AM download Is it Possible to Square the Circle?
Carson Eisenach,Williams College
Analysis I – TBL 112
( 1 ) 9:50 AM 10:05 AM download A Space-Filling Curve
David Moon,Williams College
Game Theory and Voting I – TBL 202
( 1 ) 10:10 AM 10:25 AM download Selfridge-Conway Discrete Procedure: Envy-Free Division Among Three People
Aviv Lipman,Williams College
Number Theory IC – BSC 106
( 2 ) 10:30 AM 10:45 AM download A Lattice-Based Cryptosystem for a Quantum Future
Alex Wheelock,Williams College
Geometry IB – TPL 114
( 2 ) 10:10 AM 10:25 AM download Land Ho! Choosing the Perfect Map
Julio Luquin,Williams College
Probability I – BSC Auditorium
( 1 ) 9:50 AM 10:05 AM download Secretary Problem
Jirapat Samranvedhya,Williams College
( 2 ) 10:10 AM 10:25 AM download Irrational Rotation and Nonmeasurable Sets
Qiao Zhang,Williams College
( 1 ) 10:30 AM 10:45 AM download The Cauchy Distribution
Faraz Rahman,Williams College
Applied Mathematics IA – TCL 202
( 1 ) 9:50 AM 10:05 AM download Introduction to Latent Semantic Analysis
Jeff Fossett,Williams College
  • 10:55 AM – 12:00 PM: Welcome and Invited Address – ’62 Center for Theatre & DanceTitle: How Likely is it for a Polynomial to Take On a Square Value?Dr. Manjul Bhargava, Princeton University

 
  • 12:10 – 1:30 PM – free Lunch – Greylock Dining Hall
Algebra II – BSC 103
( 1 ) 1:40 PM 1:55 PM download From Counting Eggs to Keeping Secrets: How the Chinese Remainder Theorem Can Help You
Joe Long, Williams College
Analysis II – TBL 112
( 1 ) 2:00 PM 2:15 PM download Fourier’s Elegant Proof That e Is Irrational
Eugene Murphy, Williams College
( 1 ) 2:20 PM 2:35 PM download Measurable Sensitivity
Emily Wickstrom, Williams College
Combinatorics II – TCL 123
( 1 ) 1:40 PM 1:55 PM download The Josephus Probelm
David Stevens, Williams College
Graph Theory IIB – TPL 205
( 1 ) 2:00 PM 2:15 PM download The Friendship Paradox
Jackson (Guannan) Lu, Williams College
( 1 ) 2:20 PM 2:35 PM download God’s Number: Fewest Moves to Solve the Rubik’s Cube
Kevin Garcia, Williams College
( 1 ) 2:40 PM 2:55 PM download An Introduction to the Steiner Problem
Weng-Him Cheung, Williams College
Game Theory and Voting II – TBL 202
( 1 ) 2:00 PM 2:15 PM download Cooperation within Competition: Match-Rigging in Sumo Wrestling
Maddie Mitchell, Williams College
( 1 ) 2:20 PM 2:35 PM download Game Theory of Penalty Kicks
Yoonsang Bae, Williams College
( 1 ) 2:40 PM 2:55 PM download A Two Card Cover Up Game
Scott Rodilitz, Williams College
Linear Algebra II – BSC 119
( 1 ) 2:20 PM 2:35 PM download Characterizing Human Faces: Eigenfaces as an Application of Eigenvectors
Teddy Amdur, Williams College
( 1 ) 2:40 PM 2:55 PM download Schur’s Theorem
Zaw-htut Naing, Williams College
Number Theory IIB – BSC 106
( 1 ) 2:20 PM 2:35 PM download Cracking Public-Key Cryptography: How to Factor Big Integers, Fast
Carlos Dominguez, Williams College
Geometry II – TPL 113
( 1 ) 1:40 PM 1:55 PM download A Proof of Sphere Packing in 2D
Rhys Watkins, Williams College
( 2 ) 2:00 PM 2:15 PM download Deconstructing Hilbert’s Third Problem
Craig Corsi, Williams College
( 1 ) 2:20 PM 2:35 PM download Perimeter-minimizing Tilings by Pentagons
Zane Martin, Williams College
( 1 ) 2:40 PM 2:55 PM download Sponges (Coxeter-Petrie)
Kaison Tanabe, Williams College
Topology II – Clark 105
( 1 ) 1:40 PM 1:55 PM download Topology and Combinatorics of the Soccer Ball
Kristine Nakada, Williams College
( 1 ) 2:00 PM 2:15 PM download Skein relations, Knot Polynomials, and Multi-Crossing knots
Jesse Freeman, Williams College
( 1 ) 2:20 PM 2:35 PM download The Beauty of the Baire Category Theorem
Caroline Miller, Williams College
( 1 ) 2:40 PM 2:55 PM download Perfect Equilibrium with the Kakutani Fixed-Point Theorem
Ben Corwin, Williams College
Probability II – BSC Auditorium
( 1 ) 1:40 PM 1:55 PM download What to do when you’re dealt a pocket pair in No Limit Texas Hold‘em
Tim Lattimer, Williams College
( 1 ) 2:00 PM 2:15 PM download Optimizing Blackjack playing strategy with “Lucky Bucks”
Danny Guo, Williams College
( 1 ) 2:40 PM 2:55 PM download Pairing Up All the Soulmates
Christopher Huffaker, Williams College
Statistics I – TPL 114
( 1 ) 2:00 PM 2:15 PM download Missing Data: What Should We Do About it?
Si Young Mah, Williams College
Applied Mathematics IIA – TCL 202
( 1 ) 1:40 PM 1:55 PM download Deriving the Black-Scholes Differential Equation
Michael Neubauer, Williams College
( 1 ) 2:20 PM 2:35 PM download Actuarially Fair Insurance
Phonkrit Tanavisarut, Williams College
Applied Mathematics IIB – TCL 206
( 1 ) 2:40 PM 2:55 PM download Carbon emission reductions of solar ovens
Gordon Bauer, Williams College
History of Mathematics II – BSC 107
( 2 ) 2:40 PM 2:55 PM download Buffon’s needle
Wen Han, Williams College

3:00 – 3:35 PM – Coffee Break – Science Atrium

Algebra III – BSC 103
( 2 ) 4:20 PM 4:35 PM download Hilbert’s Nullstellensatz: An Introduction to Algebraic Geometry
Scott Sanderson, Williams College
Analysis III – TBL 112
( 1 ) 4:20 PM 4:35 PM download Relation(ship) Advice: What does the marriage of mathematics and econonomics prove about your preferences?
Ivan Badinski, Williams College
Foundations of Mathematics – BSC 107
( 1 ) 3:40 PM 3:55 PM download Gödel’s First Incompleteness Theorem
Benno Stein, Williams College
( 1 ) 4:00 PM 4:15 PM download Gödel’s Incompleteness Theorem: Why This Talk Cannot Be Proved
Timothy Brock, Williams College
( 1 ) 4:20 PM 4:35 PM download Godel’s Incompleteness Theorem
Taylor Oddleifson, Williams College
( 1 ) 4:40 PM 4:55 PM download This Sentence Is False: Gödel’s Incompleteness Theorems and What They Mean For You
April Shen, Williams College
Graph Theory IIIB – TPL 205
( 1 ) 3:40 PM 3:55 PM download The Fitch and Sankoff algorithms for plant phylogenies
Eric Robinson, Williams College
( 1 ) 4:00 PM 4:15 PM download Lost in the Woods: Phylogenetic Trees, Splits, and Applications
Sandra Shedd, Williams College
( 1 ) 4:20 PM 4:35 PM download Space of Phylogenetic Trees
Tara Deonauth, Williams College
( 1 ) 4:40 PM 4:55 PM download Making the Connections
Joy Jing, Williams College
Geometry III – TPL 113
( 1 ) 4:40 PM 4:55 PM download Inversive Geometry and the Problem of Appolonius
Gregory Kehne, Williams College
Knot Theory – TCL 123
( 1 ) 3:40 PM 3:55 PM download How to Break Apart Giant Crossings
Benjamin DeMeo, Williams College
( 1 ) 4:00 PM 4:15 PM download Triple Crossing Number as a Viable Knot Invariant
Sean Sutherland, Williams College
( 2 ) 4:20 PM 4:35 PM download Examining the Splits in Skein Relations for Multi-Crossing Knots
Samantha Petti, Williams College
Differential Equations II – Clark 205
( 2 ) 4:20 PM 4:35 PM download Life: Discrete or Continuous?
Nicholas Neumann-Chun, Williams College
Applied Mathematics IIIB – TCL 206
( 1 ) 3:40 PM 3:55 PM download The Mathematics of Weightlifting
Alan Felix, Williams College
( 1 ) 4:40 PM 4:55 PM download Mathematics in Tuning
Benjamin Hoyle, Williams College
Probability IIIA – BSC Auditorium
( 1 ) 3:40 PM 3:55 PM download Fractals in Finance: Price Jumps and a Peculiar Smile
Benjamin Seiler, Williams College
( 1 ) 4:20 PM 4:35 PM download The Two Envelopes Paradox: Is There a Correct Solution?
Peter Watson, Williams College
( 1 ) 4:40 PM 4:55 PM download Chances of Crossing Paths in Manhattan
Jieming Liu, Williams College
Probability IIIB – BSC 119
( 1 ) 3:40 PM 3:55 PM download The Cookie Problem
Jaclyn Porfilio, Williams College
( 1 ) 4:00 PM 4:15 PM download Mathemagic: What happens at the intersection between magic and Math?
Kushatha Fanikiso, Williams College

About Frank Morgan:

Frank Morgan works in minimal surfaces and has published 200 articles and six books. He is currently Atwell Professor of Mathematics Emeritus at Williams College.