SAMER

Mission: To provide undergraduate students with exposure to research in mathematics through interaction with faculty and graduate students.

We meet weekly throughout each semester.  Interested in joining us?

Please contact Eric Hanson or Dr. In-Jae Kim for more information.

Member Presentations

• Brendon Watts: Presenter at the Undergraduate Research Conference on Monday, April 21, 2008. (Session 2: CSU 284, 8:00 - 10:00 AM)  

• Brighton Peterson: Presenter at the Undergraduate Research Conference on Monday, April 21, 2008. (Session 2: CSU 284, 8:00 - 10:00 AM) 

• Dr. In-Jae Kim: Presenter at the MAA-NCS meeting on Saturday, April 26, 2008.

Previous Events

• Fall 2007 (Show/Hide)

  Throughout the 2007 Fall Semester, we met for two hours each week.  We focused on increasing our understanding of matrix theory, its relation to graph theory and, in particular, bipartite graphs and the spectral properties of their adjacency matrices.

  Our group was a mixture of students ranging from a senior in high school to all levels of undergraduate and graduate students.  Since each student had a different background, the first half of the semester consisted of mostly straight lecture from Dr. Kim with some discussion as we covered the basic concepts of matrix and graph theory, building toward understanding the structure and properties of bipartite graphs and their adjacency matrices.

  During the second half of the semester, as we began to dissect the proof of the semester's 'big theorem', each two-hour meeting became more of a directed discussion led by Dr. Kim or Eryn with all members tossing out ideas explaining why something was 'clear' or how one step of the proof led to another.

  Meeting Topics   (Show/Hide)

  • September 7, 2007:  Introduction to Matrix Theory – Background Information

  • September 13, 2007:  Introduction to Graph Theory – Background Information

  • September 20, 2007:  Introduction to Graph Theory (cont.)

  • September 27, 2007:  Bipartite Graphs

  • October 4, 2007:  Bipartite Graphs: counting neighbors, proof of the existence theorem for the largest eigenvalue of a graph

  • October 11, 2007:  Graph Theory: trees, multiplicity of eigenvalues, introduction to a special type of bipartite graph, the big 'largest eigenvalue' theorem

  The remaining meetings of Fall 2007 were dedicated to the understanding of the proof of the 'big theorem' which stated the exact value of the largest eigenvalue of a special type of bipartite graph.

 

Spring 2008 Events

Speakers

• Semester Speaker:  Dr. Hongxia Yin (Show/Hide)

  January 18, 2008:  Introduction to Optimization Theory

  January 23, 2008:  Topics in Optimization: Regression analysis and method of least squares

  February 6, 2008:  Logistic Regression: logistic loss function and convex optimization

  February 27, 2008:  Convex Optimization: constrained and unconstrained

  March 19, 2008:  Convex Optimization: Lagrange dual problem and Karush-Kuhn-Tucker condition

   

• Speaker:  Steven Reller (Show/Hide)

January 23, 2008:  Introduction to Singular Value Decomposition: Terminology, l2-norm, Frobenius norm

February 13, 2008:  Singular value decomposition: Best approximation of a matrix of bounded rank in the l2-norm

 

• Speaker:  Dr. Pavel Kitsul (Show/Hide)

February 6, 2008:  Stochastic Differential Equations: Time Reversal and Its Applications to Minimal Representation of Stochastic Processes

 

• Speaker:  Dr. Brian Martensen (Show/Hide)

February 27, 2008:  Applications of Nonlinear Dynamical Systems

March 5, 2008:  Continued...

March 19, 2008:  Oscillations: Synchronization of Firefly Flashes

March 26, 2008:  Applications of Poincaré–Bendixson Theorem: Glycolysis

April 2, 2008:  Chaos: Edward Lorenz and the Lorenz Butterfly

 

Other Fun Events

• Bowling & Pizza Night on February 20th
 

• Flatland: The Movie (Math Department event) on April 11th
 

• MAA-NCS meeting on April 26 at the College of St. Benedict in St. Joseph, MN.

Scholarships:  These scholarships are not just for math majors - any CSET student should apply!

For more information, feel free to read about the CSET scholarships that are available and remember to check the deadline!

• Undergraduate Research Conference (URC):  If you are interested in actively researching mathematics outside the classroom, the URC is a great opportunity.  There are funds available: up to $2000 for Minnesota State Foundation Student Research Awards, up to $1100 for URC Large Grants, and up to $500 for URC Small Grants.

  For more information, feel free to explore the URC.

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