Past Oxford Mathematics Public Lectures

Forthcoming events in this series
24 June 2019
17:00
John Bush - Walking on water: from biolocomotion to quantum foundations
John Bush

Further Information: 

In this lecture John Bush will present seemingly disparate research topics which are in fact united by a common theme and underlaid by a common mathematical framework. 

First there is the ingenuity of the natural world where living creatures use surface tension to support themselves on the water surface and propel 
themselves along it. Then there is a system discovered by Yves Couder only fifteen years ago, in which a small droplet bounces along the surface of a vibrating liquid bath, guided or 'piloted’ by its own wave field. Its ability to reproduce many features previously thought to be exclusive to quantum systems has launched the field of hydrodynamic quantum analogs, and motivated a critical revisitation of the philosophical foundations of quantum mechanics.

John Bush is a Professor of Applied Mathematics in the Department of Mathematics at MIT specialising in fluid dynamics. 

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/bush

Oxford Mathematics Public Lectures are generously supported by XTX Markets.

  • Oxford Mathematics Public Lectures
View all
Add to My Calendar
29 May 2019
18:00
Marcus du Sautoy - The Creativity Code: How AI is learning to write, paint and think
Marcus du Sautoy

Further Information: 

Oxford Mathematics Public Lectures together with the Simonyi Science Show:

Will a computer ever compose a symphony, write a prize-winning novel, or paint a masterpiece? And if so, would we be able to tell the difference?

In The Creativity Code, Marcus du Sautoy examines the nature of creativity, as well as providing an essential guide into how algorithms work, and the mathematical rules underpinning them. He asks how much of our emotional response to art is a product of our brains reacting to pattern and structure. And might machines one day jolt us in to being more imaginative ourselves?

Marcus du Sautoy is Simonyi Professor for the Public Understanding of Science in Oxford.

6-7pm
Mathematical Institute
Oxford

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

Watch live:
https://facebook.com/OxfordMathematics
https://livestream.com/oxuni/du-Sautoy2

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

  • Oxford Mathematics Public Lectures
View all
Add to My Calendar
16 May 2019
17:00
Graham Farmelo - The Universe Speaks in Numbers
Graham Farmelo

Further Information: 

The supreme task of the physicist, Einstein believed, was to understand the 'miraculous' underlying order of the universe, in terms of the most basic laws of nature, written in mathematical language. Most physicists believe that it's best to seek these laws by trying to understand surprising new experimental findings. Einstein and his peer Paul Dirac disagreed and controversially argued that new laws are best sought by developing the underlying mathematics.

Graham will describe how this mathematical approach has led to insights into both fundamental physics and advanced mathematics, which appear to be inextricably intertwined. Some physicists and mathematicians believe they are working towards a giant mathematical structure that encompasses all the fundamental laws of nature. But might this be an illusion? Might mathematics be leading physics astray?

Graham Farmelo is a Fellow at Churchill College, Cambridge and the author of 'The Strangest Man,' a biography of Paul Dirac.

5.00pm-6.00pm
Mathematical Institute
Oxford

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

Or watch live:

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

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

  • Oxford Mathematics Public Lectures
View all
Add to My Calendar
30 April 2019
17:00
Julia Wolf - The Power of Randomness
Julia Wolf

Further Information: 

Far from taking us down the road of unpredictability and chaos, randomness has the power to help us solve a fascinating range of problems. Join Julia Wolf on a mathematical journey from penalty shoot-outs to internet security and patterns in the primes. 

Julia Wolf is University Lecturer in the Department of Pure Mathematics and Mathematical Statistics at the University of Cambridge.

5-6pm
Mathematical Institute
Oxford

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

Watch live:
https://www.facebook.com/OxfordMathematics
https://livestream.com/oxuni/wolf

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

  • Oxford Mathematics Public Lectures
View all
Add to My Calendar
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.

  • Oxford Mathematics Public Lectures
View all
Add to My Calendar
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.

  • Oxford Mathematics Public Lectures
View all
Add to My Calendar
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.

 

  • Oxford Mathematics Public Lectures
View all
Add to My Calendar
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

The Oxford Mathematics Public Lectures are generously supported by XTX Markets

  • Oxford Mathematics Public Lectures
View all
Add to My Calendar
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.

 

 

 

  • Oxford Mathematics Public Lectures
View all
Add to My Calendar
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.

  • Oxford Mathematics Public Lectures
View all
Add to My Calendar

Pages