Calendar

Oct
19
Wed
Analysis Seminar: Thomas Hangelbroek @ Keller 313
Oct 19 @ 3:30 pm – 4:30 pm

Title: A curiosity of the trace operator II

Abstract: I’ll discuss the regularity of the trace operator on various smoothness spaces. In short, this is an operator which reduces (roughly) smoothness as measured in L_p by an order of 1/p. Its behavior on Sobolev spaces, especially on the Hilbert spaces W_2^s (i.e., where smoothness is measured in L_2), plays a critical role in approximation theory when boundaries are present, and in the stability, regularity and existence results for weak solutions for PDEs.

Previously I presented a somewhat negative results: that the trace operator from W_2^(1/2) to L_2 is not bounded (although it is bounded from W_2^{s+1/2} to W_2^s when s>0. In this talk, I’ll explain how a minor correction (a so-called “curiosity” according to Hans Triebel) works – namely, by reducing the domain to a certain Besov space and using results from the atomic decomposition of these spaces.

Oct
21
Fri
Grad student seminar (all welcome) – Michelle Manes @ Keller 301
Oct 21 @ 12:30 pm – 1:30 pm

Hilbert’s third problem, scissors congruence, and the Dehn invariant

Oct
27
Thu
Colloquium: Joe Gerver (Rutgers)
Oct 27 @ 3:30 pm – 4:30 pm

Speaker: Joe Gerver (Rutgers)

Title: Non-collision singularities in the n-body problem: history and recent progress

Abstract: In the 1890′s, Poincare asked whether, in the n-body problem with point masses and Newtonian gravitation, it is possible to have a singularity without a collision. This might happen, for example, if one or more bodies were to oscillate wildly, like the function sin (1/t). We will go over the history of this problem for the past 120 years, including some recent developments.

Oct
28
Fri
Colloquium: Michelle Manes (UH Mānoa) @ Keller 401
Oct 28 @ 3:30 pm – 4:30 pm

Speaker: Michelle Manes (UH Mānoa)

Title: Curve-based cryptography, a tour of recent developments

Abstract: Elliptic curve cryptography (ECC) was first proposed in the mid 1980s, but it took 20 years for ECC algorithms to become widely used. Researchers are currently laying the mathematical foundations for cryptosystems based on genus 2 and more recently on genus 3 curves. If we’re successful, these systems may be widely used in another 10 years or so. Many of the breakthroughs in this area have come from research collaborations forged at the Women in Numbers and Sage Days for Women conferences.

In this talk, I’ll give a brief introduction to the idea of cryptosystems based on the “discrete log problem,” including ECC and higher genus curves. I’ll trace the story of the recent results, and I’ll provide some mathematical details for the most recent work on genus 3 curves.

Nov
4
Fri
Colloquium: Pamela Harris (Williams)
Nov 4 @ 3:30 pm – 4:30 pm
Nov
9
Wed
Analysis Seminar: Wolfgang Erb
Nov 9 @ 3:30 pm – 4:30 pm

Title: Is polynomial interpolation really that bad?

Abstract: A myth in numerical analysis (according to a nice article of N. Trefethen) is the belief that polynomial interpolation has to be avoided in practice since it is not stable and converges in general badly to the interpolated function.

In this talk, we are going to shed light on this myth by considering different aspects of polynomial interpolation as numerical stability and convergence properties. We will discuss some ot the theories of Trefethen why polynomial interpolation has such a bad reputation. At the end of the talk, I will give some examples how Chebyshev polynomials can be used efficiently to interpolate data points on Lissajous curves.

Nov
14
Mon
Master’s Defense – David DeVine @ Keller 301
Nov 14 @ 3:00 pm – 4:00 pm

Title: Locomotion and Rotation with three stiff
legs at Low Reynolds Number

Link to Master’s project

Abstract.
For biological organisms the ability to turn and reorient in space is of vital importance to their evolutionary fitness. Motivated by the kinematics of swimming crustaceans, this paper analyzes the hydrodynamics of a theoretical tripodal organism whose legs extend radially from a spherical body with small radius. Each leg moves sinusoidally about a specified time-averaged angle relative to the swimmer’s orientation. Arguments of symmetry are presented to establish expectations about the swimmer’s kinematic dynamics; then, applying classical results from slender-body theory to the model we specify a resistance matrix and present numerical results to the equations of motion depending on the amplitude, phase, and average angle for each leg. As the prescribed phase shift of each leg is varied the model predicts that maximal turning effciency occurs when the phase
difference between adjacent legs is 2π/3 with maximal net translation occurring coincidentally.

Nov
15
Tue
Master’s Defense – Christina Mende @ Keller 301
Nov 15 @ 4:00 pm – 5:00 pm

Title: A MODULAR FORMS APPROACH TO ARITHMETIC CONVOLUTED IDENTITIES

Link to Master’s project

Abstract.
In 2004, H. Farkas found a series of identities which relate the convolution of a certain arithmetic function with an analogue of the classical σ-function. In 2009, P. Guerzhoy and W. Raji interpreted series of identities of this kind using generating functions and modular forms. Their results pertain to primes p ≡ 3 mod 4. In this paper, we address the primes p ≡ 5 mod 8 and obtain four new series of similar identities. Our methods are close to those employed by Guerzhoy and Raji.