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Wednesday, October 3, 2007 in 920 HE, 1:10-2:00 pm (Departmental
Lecture Series)
A Buckling Problem for Graphene Sheets
Presented by Yevgeniy Milman, student in Hunter's BA/MA
Program in Mathematics
Abstract:
The speaker develops a continuum model that describes the elastic bending
of a graphene sheet interacting with a rigid substrate by van der Waals
forces. Using this model, he studies a buckling problem for a graphene
sheet perpendicular to a substrate. After identifying a trivial branch,
he combines analysis and computation to determine the stability and bifurcations
of solutions along this branch. Also presented are the results of atomistic
simulations. The simulations agree qualitatively with the predictions
of the continuum model but also suggest the importance, for some problems,
of developing a continuum description of the van der Waals interaction
that incorporates information on atomic positions. This research is based
on Mr. Milman’s participation in the Research Experience for Undergraduates
(REU) program at the University of Akron in Summer 2007.
Wednesday, October 10, 2007 in 920 HE, 1:10-2:00 pm (Departmental
Lecture Series)
Meta-Modeling
with Kriging in the Design of a Product with Multiple Outcomes
Presented by Terrence Murphy at School
of Medicine,Yale University
Abstract:
Engineers designing complex products routinely consider a number
of outcomes whose desired performance characteristics place contradictory
demands on the explanatory variables. In early design stages meta-models,
i.e., statistically based models constructed from deterministic data,
are used to emulate more sophisticated and computationally intensive simulations
that are very accurate. We compare the performance of meta-models based
on simple linear regression, Kriging, and splines to the very accurate
design solutions yielded by finite element analysis (FEA) in the modeling
of multivariate mechanical engineering data in the design of an auto-chassis.
We find in our example that the Kriging models most closely reproduce
the “true” solution yielded by the FEA simulations in a full
information scenario and in some less than full information scenarios
based on subsets of principal components.
Thursday, November 8, 2007 in 611 HN, 3:00 – 4:00
pm (Sigma Xi)
3D
Mathematica in the CUBE
Presented by Mimi Tsuruga, student in Hunter's BA/MA
Program in Mathematics
Abstract:
Mathematica is a math application and a powerful visualization tool capable
of generating and rendering 2D and 3D objects with minimal lines of code.
The CUBE (a six-walled CAVE) is a 3D virtual environment at the Beckman
Institute at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. szgMathematica
is a project which interfaces the Mathematica Kernel with the CUBE Front
End. The CUBE has been used in psychology for experiments in spatial perception,
in biology for studying models of viruses and in medicine for 3D virtual
surgery. In this project a user can send a Graphics3D object using simple
Mathematica code, move the object with a wand, walk into the object or
fly through it on a user-defined curve. This program is ideal for people
who want a "true 3D" visual understanding of complicated 3D
surfaces.
Wednesday, November 14, 2007 in 920 HE, 1:10-2:00 pm
(Departmental Lecture Series)
Mathematica as a Powerful Authoring Tool for the Classroom
Presented by John Kiehl, Adjunct Lecturer at Hunter
College
Abstract:
The newest release of the software package Mathematica trivializes the
creation of animated and interactive charts, plots, and other graphics.
The speaker will create stunning demonstrations within minutes that could
be used in a lecture as self-discovery tools for students.
Wednesday, November 28, 2007 in 920 HE, 2:10-3:00 pm
(Departmental Lecture Series)
Propagation of Ultra-short Optical Pulses in Nonlinear and Random Media
Presented by Tobias Schaefer at CUNY Graduate
Center and College of Staten Island of CUNY
Abstract:
The basic model for pulse propagation in optical media is the cubic nonlinear
Schroedinger equation (NLSE). In the regime of ultra-short pulses, however,
the basic assumption made in the derivation of the NLSE from Maxwell’s
equations as a slowly varying amplitude approximation is not valid anymore.
The speaker will give first a sketch of the derivation of the NLSE from
Maxwell’s equations and then discuss applications of the basic model
in the context of fiber optics. Then he will present a different approximation,
the short-pulse equation and discuss its validity as well as its mathematical
properties.
Thursday, December 6, 2007 in 1203 HE, 1:00-2:00 pm
(Co-sponsored by the Hunter College Chapter of
Sigma Xi and the Thomas Hunter Honors Program)
Ben
Shahn's Art and Mid-twentieth Century Science
Presented by Ezra Shahn, Professor of Biological Sciences
at Hunter College
Abstract:
Four years ago, Professor Shahn embarked on a study of the ways in which
episodes in the history of science were reflected in contemporaneous works
of art. Among recent artists, several studies had already noted that images
of science played a significant role in a number of Ben Shahn’s
works. As these were examined, it became clear that they were not random
or artificial, but were actually based on advances in science that had
been made only scant years before the art was created. In fact, these
individual images had identifiable “sources” in the scientific
literature, and, surprisingly, they also jointly represented an illustrated
history of the development of the science of structural molecular biology
that took place in the middle third of the last century.
Wednesday, April 9, 2008 in 920 HE, 1:10-2:00 pm
(Departmental Lecture Series)
One-sided Quantum Groups and the Boson-fermion Correspondence
Presented by Earl Taft, Professor of
Mathematics at Rutgers University
Abstract:
The lecturer will review the quantum groups, which are noncommutative
Hopf algebra deformations of the rational functions on the general and
special linear groups. Then he will indicate some recent one-sided versions
of these constructed by A. Lauve, S. Rodriguez and himself. This in turn
is related to a recent quantization of the boson-fermion correspondence
of classical physics.
Wednesday, April 30, 2008 in 920 HE, 1:10-2:00 pm
(Departmental Lecture Series)
Order or Chaos? Understanding Careers in Different Labor Markets via Clusters
for Nominal Longitudinal Data
Presented by Marc A. Scott, Visiting Associate Professor
at Hunter College and Associate Professor at Department of Humanities
and Social Sciences, School of Education, New York University
Abstract:
The speaker customizes techniques used in biological sequence analysis
to generate homogeneous clusters for nominal longitudinal data in which
the number of states is large. The outcomes are career trajectories through
a space of “job types,” stratified by long-term economic mobility.
He then uses information-theoretic measures to quantify the degree of
order or chaos present in these trajectories over time. The clusters and
information-theoretic techniques help refine our understanding of certain
“stylized facts” about careers with different levels of mobility.
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