• Determinacy versus indeterminacy 

      [SNAP-2020-004-EN] Berg, Christian (Mathematisches Forschungsinstitut Oberwolfach, 2020-04-22)
      Can a continuous function on an interval be uniquely determined if we know all the integrals of the function against the natural powers of the variable? Following Weierstrass and Stieltjes, we show that the answer is yes ...
    • Footballs and donuts in four dimensions 

      [SNAP-2016-012-EN] Klee, Steven (Mathematisches Forschungsinstitut Oberwolfach, 2016)
      In this snapshot, we explore connections between the mathematical areas of counting and geometry by studying objects called simplicial complexes. We begin by exploring many familiar objects in our three dimensional world ...
    • The Geometry of Fair Division 

      [SNAP-2023-007-EN] Frick, Florian (Mathematisches Forschungsinstitut Oberwolfach, 2023-12-30)
      How can we fairly divide a necklace with various types of beads? We use this problem as a motivating example to explain how geometry naturally appears in solutions of non-geometric problems. The strategy we develop to solve ...
    • High performance computing on smartphones 

      [SNAP-2016-006-EN] Patera, Anthony T.; Urban, Karsten (Mathematisches Forschungsinstitut Oberwolfach, 2016)
      Nowadays there is a strong demand to simulate even real-world engineering problems on small computing devices with very limited capacity, such as a smartphone. We explain, using a concrete example, how we can obtain a ...
    • The mathematics of aquatic locomotion 

      [SNAP-2018-008-EN] Tucsnak, Marius (Mathematisches Forschungsinstitut Oberwolfach, 2018-06-19)
      Aquatic locomotion is a self-propelled motion through a liquid medium. It can be of biological nature (fish, microorganisms,. . .) or performed by robotic swimmers. This snapshot aims to introduce the reader to some ...
    • Mathematics plays a key role in scientific computing 

      [SNAP-2017-011-EN] Shu, Chi-Wang (Mathematisches Forschungsinstitut Oberwolfach, 2017-12-29)
      I attended a very interesting workshop at the research center MFO in Oberwolfach on “Recent Developments in the Numerics of Nonlinear Hyperbolic Conservation Laws”. The title sounds a bit technical, but in plain language ...
    • Tropical geometry 

      [SNAP-2018-007-EN] Brugallé, Erwan; Itenberg, Ilia; Shaw, Kristin; Viro, Oleg (Mathematisches Forschungsinstitut Oberwolfach, 2018-07-19)
      What kind of strange spaces hide behind the enigmatic name of tropical geometry? In the tropics, just as in other geometries, one of the simplest objects is a line. Therefore, we begin our exploration by considering tropical ...
    • Visual analysis of Spanish male mortality 

      [SNAP-2015-012-EN] Marron, J. S. (Mathematisches Forschungsinstitut Oberwolfach, 2015)
      Statistical visualization uses graphical methods to gain insights from data. Here we show how a technique called principal component analysis is used to analyze mortality in Spain over about the last hundred years. This ...
    • Eine visuelle Analyse der Sterblichkeit männlicher Spanier 

      [SNAP-2015-012-DE] Marron, J. S. (Mathematisches Forschungsinstitut Oberwolfach, 2016)
      Die statistische Visualisierung benutzt graphische Methoden um Erkenntnisse aus Daten zu gewinnen. Wir zeigen wie mit dem Verfahren der Hauptkomponentenanalyse die Sterblichkeit in Spanien im Laufe der letzten hundert Jahre ...