-----Original Message-----
From: Frank Farris [mailto:FFar...@scu.edu]
Sent: Mon 10/19/09 12:56 PM
To: Frank Farris
Subject: SCU Math/CS Colloquium reminder: Tues Oct 20, 4pm

Dear colleague,

Just a reminder to encourage you to join us next Tuesday, October 20,
at 4 pm for a talk by Shirley Yap of CSU East Bay.  The title of the
talk, "Differential Equations---Not Just a Bag of Tricks!," is also the
title of an article by Professor Yap that will appear next spring in
Mathematics Magazine.  I recommend both the talk and the article very
highly.

Details are pasted in below.  The location will be O'Connor 207 for the
rest of the quarter.

We always offer tea and cookies in O'Connor 31 before colloquium talks,
but tomorrow's tea will be special, with a cake to celebrate autumn
birthdays in the department.  

Best wishes,
Frank Farris

October 20:  Shirley Yap, CSU East Bay
Title: Differential Equations---Not Just a Bag of Tricks!

Abstract: Differential Equations is often viewed as a subject full of
tricks to solve specific kinds of problems, such as homogeneous and
exact equations. However, there is a beautiful and powerful technique
that unifies and extends many of the these techniques. The method,
pioneered by Sophus Lie in the latter part of the 20th century, exploits
the invariance of the equation under certain transformations in order to
find a coordinate system for which the equation simplifies greatly. In
addition to explaining the method and applying the method to several
nonlinear ordinary differential equations, I will highlight the
geometric nature of the symmetry method with many graphics and
animations.

October 27:  David Czerwinski, San Jose State University
Title: The Math of Moneyball (and Airline Safety)

Abstract: The book Moneyball chronicles the 2002 season of the Oakland
A's and highlights their use of quantitative methods. In this talk,
we show how the A's effectively tied their strategic goals to simple
mathematical models. We take a look at the data that they based their
models on and update the story through the end of the 2007 season.
During the second half of the talk, we will show how one of the
methods used by the A's can also be used to answer an important
question about airline safety: Are all US airlines equally safe?

November 3: Chris Goff, University of the Pacific
Title: Fusion Algebras and Accidental Trigonometry (or How I Spent My
Sabbatical)
Abstract:  We discuss the notion of a fusion algebra, which neatly
combines elements of abstract algebra with linear algebra.  In
particular, I explain how the search for a specific fusion algebra led
indirectly to the discovery of a cosine identity and its eventual
proof.

November 10:Rob Beezer, University of Puget Sound
Title: An Introduction to Algebraic Graph Theory
Abstract: A graph is a set of "vertices" that can be joined by "edges."
 The presence, or absence, of an edge between two vertices indicates a
relationship between the vertices.  A very natural alternative to a
graph is a matrix of zeros and ones, whose rows and columns are indexed
by the vertices of the graph.  An entry equal to one in the matrix is
equivalent to an edge, while a zero entry indicates no edge.

This matrix opens the possibility of using all of linear algebra to
study graphs, and this is the theme of this talk.  We present several
theorems that relate natural properties of graphs to natual properties
of matrices, and vice versa.  We only assume a familiarity with basic
linear algebra, such as matrix multiplication and eigenvalues.

November 17: No colloquium
December 1: Jared Maruskin, San Jose State University
Title: Lagrangian and Hamiltonian Dynamics

There will be refreshments before each talk in O'Connor 31 starting at
3:45pm.

If you have a disability and require a reasonable accommodation, please
call/email Frank Farris 408-554-4430/ffarris at scu dot edu (or use
1-800-735-2929 TTY-California Relay).
Frank A. Farris
Editor, Mathematics Magazine
314 O'Connor Hall
Santa Clara University
500 El Camino Real
Santa Clara, CA 95053-0373

408-554-4430
FAX: 408-554-2370
http://math.scu.edu/~ffarris