• Curriculum development in university mathematics: where mathematicians and education collide 

      [SNAP-2015-011-EN] Sangwin, Christopher J. (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 ...
    • Darcy's law and groundwater flow modelling 

      [SNAP-2015-007-EN] Schweizer, Ben (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, ...
    • Minimizing energy 

      [SNAP-2015-002-EN] Breiner, Christine (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 ...
    • Quantum diffusion 

      [SNAP-2015-014-EN] Knowles, Antti (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 ...