Past Oxford Mathematics Public Lectures

Forthcoming events in this series
11 March 2019
17:00
Marc Lackenby - Knotty Problems
Marc Lackenby

Further Information: 

Knots are a familiar part of everyday life, for example tying your tie or doing up your shoe laces. They play a role in numerous physical and biological phenomena, such as the untangling of DNA when it replicates. However, knot theory is also a well-developed branch of pure mathematics.

In his talk, Marc will give an introduction to this theory and will place it in the context of the modern field of topology. This is the branch of mathematics where you are allowed to stretch and deform objects, but not tear them. He will explain how topological techniques can be used to prove some surprising facts about knots. He will also give some problems about knots that mathematicians haven't yet been able to solve.

Marc Lackenby is a Professor of Mathematics in Oxford and a Fellow of St Catherine's College.

5.00pm-6.00pm, Mathematical Institute, Oxford

Please email external-relations@maths.ox.ac.uk to register.

Watch live:

https://www.facebook.com/OxfordMathematics
https://livestream.com/oxuni/lackenby

The Oxford Mathematics Public Lectures are generously supported by XTX Markets.

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5 February 2019
17:00
to
18:15
James Maynard - Prime Time: How simple questions about prime numbers affect us all
James Maynard

Further Information: 

Why should anyone care about primes? Well, prime numbers are important, not just in pure mathematics, but also in the real world. Various different, difficult problems in science lead to seemingly very simple questions about prime numbers. Unfortunately, these seemingly simple problems have stumped mathematicians for thousands of years, and are now some of the most notorious open problems in mathematics!

Oxford Research Professor James Maynard is one of the brightest young stars in world mathematics at the moment, having made dramatic advances in analytic number theory in recent years. 

Please email external-relations@maths.ox.ac.uk to register.

Watch live:

https://www.facebook.com/OxfordMathematics/
https://livestream.com/oxuni/Maynard

The Oxford Mathematics Public Lectures are generously supported by XTX Markets.

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9 January 2019
17:00
to
18:15
Inaugural Oxford Mathematics Midlands Public Lecture (in Solihull): Marcus du Sautoy -The Num8er My5teries
Marcus du Sautoy
Abstract

With topics ranging from prime numbers to the lottery, from lemmings to bending balls like Beckham, Professor Marcus du Sautoy will provide an entertaining and, perhaps, unexpected approach to explain how mathematics can be used to predict the future. 

We are delighted to announce our first Oxford Mathematics Midlands Public Lecture to take place at Solihull School on 9th January 2019. 

Please email external-relations@maths.ox.ac.uk to register

Watch live:
https://facebook.com/OxfordMathematics
https://livestream.com/oxuni/du-Sautoy

We are very grateful to Solihull School for hosting this lecture.

The Oxford Mathematics Public Lectures are generously supported by XTX Markets.

 

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12 December 2018
17:00
Hannah Fry - Hello World
Hannah Fry - University College of London
Abstract

Hannah Fry takes us on a tour of the good, the bad and the downright ugly of the algorithms that surround us. Are they really an improvement on the humans they are replacing?

Hannah Fry is a lecturer in the Mathematics of Cities at the Centre for Advanced Spatial Analysis at UCL. She is also a well-respected broadcaster and the author of several books including the recently published 'Hello World: How to be Human in the Age of the Machine.'

5.00pm-6.00pm, Mathematical Institute, Oxford

Please email external-relations@maths.ox.ac.uk to register

Watch live:
https://facebook.com/OxfordMathematics
https://livestream.com/oxuni/ChristmasLecture2018

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15 November 2018
17:15
Michael Berry - Chasing the dragon: tidal bores in the UK and elsewhere
Michael Berry
Abstract

Oxford Mathematics Public Lectures
Hooke Lecture

Michael Berry - Chasing the dragon: tidal bores in the UK and elsewhere
15 November 2018 - 5.15pm

In some of the world’s rivers, an incoming high tide can arrive as a smooth jump decorated by undulations, or as a breaking wave. The river reverses direction and flows upstream.

Understanding tidal bores involves

· analogies with tsunamis, rainbows, horizons in relativity, and ideas from  quantum physics;

· the concept of a ‘minimal model’ in mathematical explanation;

· different ways in which different cultures describe the same thing;

· the first unification in fundamental physics.

Michael Berry is Emeritus Professor of Physics, H H Wills Physics Laboratory, University of Bristol

5.15pm, Mathematical Institute, Oxford

Please email external-relations@maths.ox.ac.uk to register.

Watch live:

https://www.facebook.com/OxfordMathematics
https://livestream.com/oxuni/Berry

Oxford Mathematics Public Lectures are generously supported by XTX Markets.

 

 

 

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30 October 2018
19:00
Oxford Mathematics London Public Lecture: 'To a physicist I am a mathematician; to a mathematician, a physicist' - Roger Penrose in conversation with Hannah Fry SOLD OUT
Roger Penrose and Hannah Fry
Abstract

Roger Penrose is the ultimate scientific all-rounder.  He started out in algebraic geometry but within a few years had laid the foundations of the modern theory of black holes with his celebrated paper on gravitational collapse. His exploration of foundational questions in relativistic quantum field theory and quantum gravity, based on his twistor theory, had a huge impact on differential geometry. His work has influenced both scientists and artists, notably Dutch graphic artist M. C. Escher.

Roger Penrose is one of the great ambassadors for science. In this lecture and in conversation with mathematician and broadcaster Hannah Fry he will talk about work and career.

This lecture is in partnership with the Science Museum in London where it will take place. Please email external-relations@maths.ox.ac.uk to register.

You can also watch online:

https://www.facebook.com/OxfordMathematics

https://livestream.com/oxuni/Penrose-Fry

The Oxford Mathematics Public Lectures are generously supported by XTX Markets.

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9 October 2018
19:30
to
21:15
James Sparks & the City of London Sinfonia - Bach and the Cosmos SOLD OUT
James Sparks and City of London Sinfonia
Abstract

Johann Sebastian Bach was the most mathematical of composers. Oxford Mathematician and Cambridge organ scholar James Sparks will explain just how mathematical and City of London Sinfonia will elaborate with a special performance of the Goldberg Variations. 

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James Sparks - Bach and the Cosmos (30 minutes)

City of London Sinfonia - J S Bach arr. Sitkovetsky, Goldberg Variations (70 minutes)

Alexandra Wood - Director/Violin

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Please email external-relations@maths.ox.ac.uk to register

Watch live:
https://www.facebook.com/OxfordMathematics
https://www.livestream.com/oxuni/Bach-Cosmos

The Oxford Mathematics Public Lectures are generously supported by XTX Markets

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24 September 2018
17:30
Roger Penrose - Eschermatics SOLD OUT
Roger Penrose
Abstract

Oxford Mathematics and the Clay Mathematics Institute Public Lectures

Roger Penrose - Eschermatics
24 September 2018 - 5.30pm

Roger Penrose’s work has ranged across many aspects of mathematics and its applications from his influential work on gravitational collapse to his work on quantum gravity. However, Roger has long had an interest in and influence on the visual arts and their connections to mathematics, most notably in his collaboration with Dutch graphic artist M.C. Escher. In this lecture he will use Escher’s work to illustrate and explain important mathematical ideas.

Oxford Mathematics is hosting this special event in its Public Lecture series during the conference to celebrate the 20th Anniversary of the foundation of the Clay Mathematics Institute. After the lecture Roger will be presented with the Clay Award for the Dissemination of Mathematical Knowledge.

5.30-6.30pm, Mathematical Institute, Oxford

Please email external-relations@maths.ox.ac.uk to register.

Watch live:

https://www.facebook.com/OxfordMathematics
https://livestream.com/oxuni/Penrose

The Oxford Mathematics Public Lectures are generously supported by XTX Markets.

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5 September 2018
17:00
Persi Diaconis - Chance and Evidence
Persi Diaconis
Abstract

In this lecture Persi Diaconis will take a look at some of our most primitive images of chance - flipping a coin, rolling a roulette wheel and shuffling cards - and via a little bit of mathematics (and a smidgen of physics) show that sometimes things are not very random at all. Indeed chance is sometimes confused with frequency and this confusion caries over to a confusion between chance and evidence. All of which explains our wild misuse of probability and statistical models.

Persi Diaconis is world-renowned for his study of mathematical problems involving randomness and randomisation. He is the co-author of 'Ten Great Ideas about Chance (2017) and is the Mary V. Sunseri Professor of Statistics and Mathematics at Stanford University. 

Please email external-relations@maths.ox.ac.uk to register.

Watch live:

https://www.facebook.com/OxfordMathematics
https://livestream.com/oxuni/PersiDiaconis

The Oxford Mathematics Public Lectures are generously supported by XTX Markets.

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26 June 2018
18:00
Richard James - Atomistically inspired origami
Richard James
Abstract

The World population is growing at about 80 million per year.  As time goes by, there is necessarily less space per person. Perhaps this is why the scientific community seems to be obsessed with folding things.  In this lecture Dick James presents a mathematical approach to “rigid folding” inspired by the way atomistic structures form naturally - their features at a molecular level imply desirable features for macroscopic structures as well, especially 4D structures.  Origami structures even suggest an unusual way to look at the Periodic Table.

Richard D. James is Distinguished McKnight University Professor at the University of Minnesota.

Please email external-relations@maths.ox.ac.uk to register.

The Oxford Mathematics Public Lectures are generously supported by XTX Markets.

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