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Posts published in “For Math’s Sake”

Is mathematics a universal language?

As I wrap up the second year of the For Math’s Sake column, I want to get at some broad questions about mathematics I’ve been mulling over and share some thoughts that will hopefully lay the groundwork for more in-depth articles in the coming school year.

What does a math Ph.D. student actually do?

The title of this article is a question I usually get asked. Admittedly, it’s a hard question to answer briefly since a sentence like, “I take graduate-level courses to gain a general background in the subject and then conduct original research in mathematics in order to defend a thesis,” leads to many follow-up questions.

I solved math! (NOT CLICKBAIT)

Some of my friends will ask me fairly often: “have you solved math yet?” If they ask me again in the coming days, I can confidently answer “YES!” 

AI: an applied mathematics perspective

In the last week of Fall 2023 classes, I attended a workshop-style conference titled “Mathematical Opportunities in Digital Twins,” abbreviated MATH-DT, and co-organized by my PhD advisor, Professor Kathrin Smetana.

Music and its mathematical roots

This weekend marks the beginning of the end-of-semester concert season, featuring the Stevens Orchestra’s performance tomorrow, with Concert Band (December 2), Jazz Band (December 8), and Choir (December 9) following Thanksgiving break.

The joy of conferences

In a shift back to personal math stories after the recent columns on national and global (tangentially) math-related events, I attended my first conference a couple weekends ago.

Mathematics in a dangerous time

שָׁלוֹם עֲלֵיכֶם

ٱلسَّلَامُ عَلَيْكُمْ 

Peace be upon you

One of the many poignant scenes in the Alan Turing biopic The Imitation Game occurs just after the famous mathematician and computer scientist cracks the Enigma Code.

Playing with House money: thoughts on the shutdown drama

While political intrigue may not excite the general readership as much as prison breaks, I found myself equally on the edge of my seat reading about how the US government narrowly avoided a shutdown as I was following the story behind my last column.