Winter 2019
Winter 2019 WXML Projects
Reseating Chinese restaurant process
Faculty Mentor: Dr. Noah Forman
Project Description: The reseating Chinese restaurant process is a randomly changing partition of {1,…,n}. Think of n customers in a restaurant; the tables are the “blocks” of the partition. At each step in the process, a single customer leaves their seat and chooses a new one according to a certain probabilistic rule. This process has applications in the clustering problem in machine learning. We will build simulations of the large n limits of these processes and use them to study properties of the processes.
Graduate Mentor: Chengning Li
Team Members: Nile Wynar, Zohebhusain Siddiqui, Marques Chacon
Constructing Quantum Theories
Faculty Mentor: Prof. Benjamin Feintzeig
Project Description: This project investigates the properties of so-called deformation quantizations that model the relationship between classical and quantum physics. We will especially be concerned with using the mathematics of deformation quantization to guide physics in the construction of quantum theories. We will analyze a simple system: a single particle moving in one dimension, whose physics can be captured by a phase space with the structure of the plane. Our strategy will be to focus on algebraic and analytic methods for defining a non-commutative product on algebras of functions on the plane. We will try to do so without relying too heavily on the particular geometrical structure of the plane so that we can generalize to examples with different phase spaces. We will investigate considerations from physics—especially concerning physical and non-physical states—for constructing the product in various ways. This project will make extensive use of algebra and real analysis.
Graduate Mentor: Charles Godfrey
Team Members:Thomas Browning, Rory Soiffer, Kahlil Gates
Tactile Patterns in Art and Mathematics
Faculty Mentors : Prof. Sara Billey and Prof. Timea Tihanyi
Project Description: There is a long history of exploration using mathematics and art from ancient Sumerian, Persian, and Greek civilizations, through the Renaissance, all the way to the present. For over a decade, Profs. Billey and Tihanyi have been bridging the gap between art and math by collaborating on various projects at this intersection. Most recently in the area of Cellular Automata and other forms of discrete mathematical algorithms, which output a pattern of binary data or two and three-dimensional matrices for realization as tactile patterns in 3D printed ceramics. See https://www.sliprabbit.org/projects/ for pictures. The focus of this WXML project is to explore open problems and 2-dimensional visualizations that come from the math of sandpile models on graphs. Sandpile models combine aspects of combinatorics, probability, computer science, and art. We are looking for a team of 2-3 students with a variety of skills and experiences in the above areas who can embrace the essential mathematical concepts quickly, implement algorithms for experimentation, attack the open problems, and can communicate well with a broad audience. Students will be expected to work independently for 8-10 hours per week and meet with the instructors 1-2 times per week. Students will also be asked to visit makerspaces on campus and Prof. Tihanyi’s digital ceramic studio off campus as part of this WXML project.
Team Members: James Pedersen
Mathematics of Gerrymandering
Faculty Mentor: Prof. Christopher Hoffman
Project Description: Districting and Gerrymandering have been in the news a lot recently, and the mathematical modeling of how to draw districts is a very hot topic. This project will look at the space of all possible redistrictings of a state to see whether the current plan is an outlier. It will involve probability and computing skills.
Graduate Mentor: Tejas Devanur
Team Members: Norton Pengra, Zachary Barnes, Langley DeWitt, Aaron Bae
Counting k-tuples in Discrete Sets
Faculty Mentor: Prof. Jayadev Athreya
Project Description: We will count pairs, triples, and k-tuples of integer vectors in the plane, 3-space, and higher dimensions, using both number theory and programming. We’ll also explore other interesting sets arising from dynamical systems and billiards. This project will involve number theory, geometry, and probability, and will be a great introduction to those subjects.
Graduate Mentor: Samantha Fairchild
Team Members: Kimberly Bautista, Maddy Brown, Andrew Lim