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Curriculum development in university mathematics: where mathematicians and education collide
[SNAP-2015-011-EN] (Mathematisches Forschungsinstitut Oberwolfach, 2015)
This snapshot looks at educational aspects of the design of curricula in mathematics. In particular, we examine choices textbook authors have made when introducing the concept of the completness of the real numbers. Can ...
Special values of zeta functions and areas of triangles
[SNAP-2015-010-EN] (Mathematisches Forschungsinstitut Oberwolfach, 2015)
In this snapshot we give a glimpse of the interplay of special values of zeta functions and volumes of triangles. Special values of zeta functions and their generalizations arise in the computation of volumes of moduli ...
How to choose a winner: the mathematics of social choiceWie man einen Sieger wählt: die Mathematik der Sozialwahl
[SNAP-2015-009-ENSNAP-2015-009-DE] (Mathematisches Forschungsinstitut Oberwolfach, 2015)
[also available in German] Suppose a group of individuals wish to choose among several options, for example electing one of several candidates to a political office or choosing the best contestant in a skating competition. ...
Zero-dimensional symmetry
[SNAP-2015-003-EN] (Mathematisches Forschungsinstitut Oberwolfach, 2015)
This snapshot is about zero-dimensional symmetry. Thanks to recent discoveries we now understand such symmetry better than previously imagined possible. While still far from complete, a picture of zero-dimensional symmetry ...
Friezes and tilings
[SNAP-2015-004-EN] (Mathematisches Forschungsinstitut Oberwolfach, 2015)
Friezes have occured as architectural ornaments for many centuries. In this snapshot, we consider the mathematical analogue of friezes as introduced in the 1970s by Conway and Coxeter. Recently, infinite versions of such ...
Darcy's law and groundwater flow modelling
[SNAP-2015-007-EN] (Mathematisches Forschungsinstitut Oberwolfach, 2015)
Formulations of natural phenomena are derived, sometimes, from experimentation and observation. Mathematical methods can be applied to expand on these formulations, and develop them into better models. In the year 1856, ...
Modeling communication and movement: from cells to animals and humans
[SNAP-2015-006-EN] (Mathematisches Forschungsinstitut Oberwolfach, 2015)
Communication forms the basis of biological interactions. While the use of a single communication mechanism (for example visual communication) by a species is quite well understood, in nature the majority of species ...
Minimizing energy
[SNAP-2015-002-EN] (Mathematisches Forschungsinstitut Oberwolfach, 2015)
What is the most efficient way to fence land when you’ve only got so many metres of fence? Or, to put it differently, what is the largest area bounded by a simple closed planar curve of fixed length? We consider the answer ...
Visual analysis of Spanish male mortalityEine visuelle Analyse der Sterblichkeit männlicher Spanier
[SNAP-2015-012-ENSNAP-2015-012-DE] (Mathematisches Forschungsinstitut Oberwolfach, 2015)
[also available in German] 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 ...
Quantum diffusion
[SNAP-2015-014-EN] (Mathematisches Forschungsinstitut Oberwolfach, 2015)
If you place a drop of ink into a glass of water, the ink will slowly dissipate into the surrounding water until it is perfectly mixed. If you record your experiment with a camera and play the film backwards, you will see ...