2794W — Schedule

Welcome to Math 2794W: Mathematics Writing Seminar, this Spring 2019! Today is .

Actual Schedule

See also UConn Calendar for Spring 2019 for important deadlines and other dates.

Note: If you ever lose files in your project or have trouble logging into Overleaf, please contact me - I do have backup copies of your work.

Due Mon, May 6 (end of day): Final version of final paper (PDF via email and all files in Overleaf)

grading rubric
Create a new folder called assignment7final in your usual Overleaf project containing the following items:
- A cover letter addressed to the me explanaining the changes you’ve made based on peer reviews, UConn writing center (optional), and my feedback - use the following template: .pdf file, .tex file
- Revised .tex, .bib, and all files for your writing assignment
- Via email: Submit the PDF files (of the revised paper and cover letter addressed to me) as email attachments

CURRENT: Week 15 (Apr 29 – 3)

Wed
- In-class Activity (due at the end of class) Final Paper Peer-review
Sign up for an individual meeting slot to discuss the draft of your final paper: Sign-up sheet. Tuesday and Thursday are also available if you contact me with your availabilities.

Past: Week 14 (Apr 22 – 26)

Due MON April 22 at 5:45pm Final writing assignment (actual paper, first draft)
- Sample final paper 1: PDF, tex and sample final paper 2: PDF and tex
- Please read the late policy on the final paper - all late submissions are accepted with grade penalty (no tokens for the final paper).
- Via email: Submit the PDF file as an email attachment (since this is a draft, you can continue to make changes to your Overleaf folder past the deadline)
  - In your email, please write one of the following:
    1. I will participate in the peer-review activity on Wednesday, May 1, and I want to partner with [insert name of classmate] (and [optional, another classmate]) whose paper topic is different from mine. This classmate has agreed to be my partner.
    2. I will participate in the peer-review activity on Wednesday, May 1. Please choose a partner for me.
    3. I will not attend May 1 class, but I wish to do the peer-activity work outside of class.
    4. I will not attend May 1 class, and I do not wish to make up the work.
    5. Other situation - please elaborate.
- Via Overleaf: Put .tex, .bib, and all source files in assignment7 folder
Due WED Apr 24 at 5:45pm Resubmission of Writing Assignment 6, grading rubric
- Create a new folder called assignment6final in your usual Overleaf project containing the following items:
  - A cover letter addressed to the me explanaining the changes you’ve made based on peer reviews, UConn writing center (optional), and my feedback - use the following template: .pdf file, .tex file
  - Revised .tex, .bib, and all files for your writing assignment
- Via email: Submit the PDF files (of the revised paper and cover letter addressed to me) as email attachments
- There is no penalty for submitting this late if you let me know ahead of time.
Sign up for an individual meeting slot to discuss the draft of your final paper. Sign-up sheet to be posted.

Past: Week 13 (Apr 15 – 19)

Note: The deadline for the draft of the final paper is moved to next Monday
Wed Math Club Talk comment form due on Saturday at noon in a new project called ‘Talk Comment Form Week 13 by YourName’.
- Note: This week’s talk is the last Math Club talk of the semester.
Week 13 talk resources courtesy of M. Gordina:

Past: Week 12 (Apr 8 – 12)

Mon
- Due April 8 Final Writing Assignment (outline and bib file only)- it is OK to change your topic to one of the first 8 talks (week 10 or earlier)
  - Via email: Submit the PDF file as an email attachment
  - Via Overleaf: Put .tex and .bib files in assignment7 folder
- In-class Activity (due at the end of class) Assignment 6 Peer-review
- Due in class: Bring a printout of your actual paper from last week’s HW Writing Assignment 6 (actual paper) for the peer-review
  - Please send me your PDF by 4pm on Monday if you’d like me to print it for you.

Week 12 talk resources:
- A talk on the geometry of projective space by Jon Hanke, given at UConn Math Club on APril 4, 2012

Past: Week 11 (Apr 1 – 5)

Mon Due April 1 Writing Assignment 6 (actual paper) via Overleaf in assignment6 folder
- NO Monday class meeting this week

Wed Math Club Talk comment form due on Saturday at noon in a new project called ‘Talk Comment Form Week 11 by YourName’.
Week 11 talk resources: Slides by J. Connors, Numerical differentiation: some lessons from blast calculations

Past: Week 10 (Mar 25 – Mar 29)

NO Monday class this week
- Recommended: Ask me to look over your assignment 6 paper (due the following Monday, April 1) or help you write an outline for your final paper (due in two weeks on April 8) during usual drop-in office hours 2:15-4:30 (or by appointments)

Week 10 talk resources:
- Slides by D. T. McArdle, Chaos: The Predictably Unpredictable
  - All of the links (in blue) in the above slides are functional and lead to videos related to chaos.
- Introduction to difference equations:
  - (Most elementary introduction to linear difference equation of the first and second order) Textbook Mathematics: A Discrete Introduction by Edward R. Scheinerman, the second or third edition. (there is a chapter on recurrence relations)
  - (Introduction to difference equations) Textbook An introduction to Difference Equations by Saber Elaydi
  - (Introduction to difference equations, with a lot of applications) Textbook An Introduction to Mathematical Biology by Linda J. S. Allen. (The first three chapters are on difference equations.)
- Textbook Discrete Chaos by Saber Elaydi.

Past: Week 9 (Mar 18 – 22) SPRING BREAK

Past: Week 8 (Mar 11 – 15)

Mon
- Due in class: Writing Assignment 6 (handwritten notes only, not the actual paper)
- In-class Homework (due at the end of class) Peer-review activity on Assignment 5, Peer review form
- Due in class: Bring a printout of your Writing Assignment 5 for the peer-review, which was due the previous Monday

NEWS:
- This week’s comment form is your last chance to earn credit toward the best four talks out of the first seven talks.
- This week’s topic can be chosen for your final paper topic if you decide that you like it better than what you have already picked.
Week 8 talk resources (you can do proofs of irrationality of pi or e that are different than the speaker’s proof):
- Speaker’s lecture notes
- Check out published references at the bottom of Keith’s online notes on irrationality of pi and e
- Tons of references at the bottom of the Wikipedia entry on pi: en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pi - More recent references, starting from the 80s, may be easier for you to read
- You should also be aware that 2*pi day should be a thing!! (tauday.com)[https://tauday.com/]
  - I especially enjoyed the Youtube video: Pi Is (still) Wrong
- See the references cited in the sample paper pi and e
- If you are interested, you should look into a proof of irrationality of a number using continued fraction.
Due Saturday (March 16) at noon (required for passing Math2794W) Resubmission of Writing Assignment 5, grading rubric
- Create a new folder called assignment5final in your usual Overleaf project containing the following items:
  - A letter addressed to the professor explanaining the changes you’ve made based on peer reviews, UConn writing center (optional), and my feedback - use the following template: .pdf file, .tex file
  - Improved .tex and .bib files for your writing assignment

Past: Week 7 (Mar 4 – 8)

Mon Due Writing Assignment 5 in Overleaf

Week 7 talk resources:
1. The countable random graph is often called the Rado graph. See wikipedia entry (and the references at the end) on the Rado graph.
2. Speaker’s talk notes. If you use it, create a BibTeX entry for it with note ‘personal correspondence’
3. 6-page notes by R. Schwartz on random graph, R. Schwartz’s original link
4. A chapter by P. Cameron: The random graph has a lot more information than mentioned in the talk.
5. If you decide to write the final paper on this topic, the speaker welcomes you to make an appointment (by email) to talk to him, or just stop by his office to see if he is around. You should take him up on this offer.
Due Saturday (March 9) at noon (required for passing Math2794W) Resubmission of Writing Assignment 4:
- Create a new folder called assignment4final in your usual Overleaf project containing the following items:
  - A new letter addressed to the professor explanaining the changes you’ve made based on peer reviews, UConn career services (optional), and my feedback - use the following template: .pdf file, .tex file
  - Your improved job cover letter (.tex file) and all other files needed to compile it
  - Your improved resume (.tex file) and all other files needed to compile it.
  - The original PDF printout of your job advertisement
Due Saturday (March 9) at noon Topic choice for the final paper (worth 20% of the final paper’s first draft). To submit this assignment, please send the following to my UConn email.
- Subject: Math2794W paper topic: TalkTitle from Week # by NameOfSpeaker
- Body of email:
  - Repeat the subject line
  - Briefly describe specific areas related to the talk that you (tentatively) plan to research and write about.
  - Is the topic in your subject line the same topic you chose for Writing Assignment 5? If not, check out (by requesting the materials through the library website or from other sources) two references related to the topic in your subject line.
  - Write down at least two references (for the topic in your subject line) you have looked at.
  - Describe the status of your references (e.g., a physical book is still in transit via Interlibrary Loan, you are currently borrowing a physical copy of the book, or you have downloaded a paper that is available online).

Past: Week 6 (Feb 25 – Mar 1)

Mon
- In-class Homework (due at the end of class) Peer review activity
- Due Writing Assignment 4
  - Bring 1 copy of the job advertisement and four copies of each of the cover letter and resume.
  - The files are due in your usual Overleaf project in a new folder assignment4
  - will count as 2 page (out of the required 15) of written, rewritten, and resubmitted work
Week 6 talk resouces:
- Software the speaker showed during the talk imaginary.org/program/surfer
- Look for the published version of the speaker’s article arxiv.org/abs/1109.1427 via MathSciNet - instructions for using MathSciNet are available in LaTeX Practice Assignment 3
- Axler, Bourdan, and Ramey’s Harmonic Function Theory is a great book that is written at the advanced undergraduate / beginning graduate student level. Request an interlibrary loan if our library doesn’t have it.
- Flatness is an important contemporary idea in geometric measure theory, but I does not appear in any good textbook form. One reference for this material is a paper written by the speaker on Local Set Approximation, which is open access. Section 2 contains background on measuring distance between sets: cambridge.org/core/journals/forum-of-mathematics-sigma/article/local-set-approximation-mattilavuorinen-type-sets-reifenberg-type-sets-and-tangent-sets/0B3032742167A3832F85AC82A9D4DA42
- Note: The speaker thinks that Roger’s Hausdorff Measures textbook is too advanced to be accessible.
- A student suggested A Course in Metric Geometry by Sergei Ivanov

Due Saturday (March 2) at noon (required for passing Math2794W) Resubmission of LaTeX Practice Assignment 3, all stored in a new folder called assignment3final in your usual Overleaf project

Past: Week 5 (Feb 18 – 22)

Mon In-class: work on next Monday’s homework
- Due LaTeX Practice Assignment 3
  - this assignment is required for passing Math2794W, and will count as 3 pages (out of the required 15) of written, rewritten, and resubmitted work

Week 5 talk resouces:
- Some references are available at the end of the handout .pdf file
  - Source code for the handout: .tex file, .bib file.
- Additional references:
  - Some history of the Pascal’s triangle is mentioned in the book Math through the Ages by W. Berlinghoff and F. Gouvea, 2nd edition, MAA Press. You can request an interlibrary loan.
  - 32-page article for teachers: Exploring Pascal’s Triangle by T. Davis
  - 10-page Proofs of Integrability of Binomial Coefficients by K. Conrad

Past: Week 4 (Feb 11 – 15)

Mon In-class: MathSciNet and BibTeX demo, and work on next Monday’s homework
- Due LaTeX Practice Assignment 2

Week 4 talk resources (courtesy of A. Minenkova): See two references at the end of the Slides by A. Klappenecker, Calculus of Finite Differences and JSTOR

Past: Week 3 (Feb 4 – 8)

Mon
- Due Monday Feb 4 at the beginning of class: LaTex Practice Assignment 1 parts A and B
  - Part A due in person
  - Part B submit by sharing your Overleaf project
- In-class activity: Work on homework due on Week 4 Monday - all instructions are under ‘Week 4’.

Week 3 talk resources:
- Slides by A. Parzygnat, The contraction mapping theorem: Fractals from iteration
- Reference on metric spaces and contraction mapping theorem: Victor Bryant’s book (see the end of the slides). It is accessible to most undergraduates that have taken the calculus sequence and maybe a proof-based course.
- References for fractals and how contractions are used to define them are the first two chapters of Bruno Lacroix’s thesis (available online for free) titled Fractal Image Compression.
- A few lecture videos on metric spaces and the contraction mapping theorem (taught in an Analysis II class). See the main page of the speaker’s website.
- A student suggested A Course in Metric Geometry by Sergei Ivanov
- Khan Academy MITK12Videos: video What is a fractal and what are they good for?
- Math’s Beautiful Monsters: How a destructive idea paved the way for modern math by A. Kucharski on fractals

Past: Week 2 (Jan 28 – Feb 1)

Mon
- Due Monday Jan 28 (collected) Survey and LaTeX practice before the beginning of class.
- Recommended HW: Read the syllabus
- In-class activity: LaTeX Practice Assignment 1 parts A and B and Learn LaTeX in 30 minutes

Week 2 talk resources (please suggest references to me): See JSTOR, Real Analysis textbooks

Week 1 (Jan 23 – 25) short week

Wed
- Discuss math writing - sample papers: Pi and e, Generating functions, Orders of growth
- Intro to Overleaf:
  - First, create an account on Overleaf
  - Go to this read-only template for Survey and LaTeX practice
  - See Learn LaTeX in 30 minutes

Content Credit: Adam Giambrone, Keith Conrad, and Jacob Matherne, used with thanks.