MAT in 10 minutes - The Oxford Mathematics Admissions Test
Yesterday over 5000 applicants took the Mathematics Admissions Test, the entrance test used for Undergraduate Mathematics at Oxford, and other courses at Oxford and Warwick University and Imperial College London. It's a two and a half hour exam. Here (below) Dr James Munro gives you all the answers in 10 minutes. Question paper available here. And yes, there was a typo in Q4. Full statement here.
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Robin Thompson awarded the Journal of Clinical Medicine Outstanding Research Award 2020
Oxford Mathematician Robin Thompson has been awarded the Journal of Clinical Medicine “Outstanding Research Award 2020” for his contribution of using mathematical models to represent the epidemiological or evolutionary behavior of infectious disease outbreaks. Robin's paper “Novel Coronavirus Outbreak in Wuhan, China, 2020: Intense Surveillance Is Vital for Preventing Sustained Transmission in New Locations” published in February 2020 was recognised as recommended reading by the World Health Organization. The aim of the paper was not only to generate forecasts of specific outbreaks but also to understand how diseases spread such that forecasts can be made, and control interventions can be planned with more precision. In April Robin gave an Oxford Mathematics Public Lecture explaining for a general audience how mathematicians model infectious diseases. Much of the content has now passed in to common parlance. The lecture can be found below.
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A World History of Mathematics
Much of the mathematics that is done throughout the world today is essentially European in style. This is a legacy of European colonialism, which saw the export around the globe of a specific approach to mathematics: one derived from the ideas of the ancient Greeks, and based firmly on the notion of proof. Until recent decades, the study of the history of mathematics has tended to focus on the history of this European mathematics. However, other parts of the world have had, and continue to have, their own mathematical traditions, though in many cases little record remains of the individuals who were involved in these developments. A series of new posters, to be displayed in the mezzanine of the Andrew Wiles Building and online, aims to provide a taste of the different types of mathematics that have appeared throughout the world, and to show that these are as much a part of the story of mathematics as the tales that are traditionally told of the prominent European mathematicians.
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Oxford Mathematics Online Public Lecture: David Sumpter - How Learning Ten Equations Can Improve Your Life
Oxford Mathematics Online Public Lecture Wednesday 28 October 2020 Is there a secret formula for becoming rich? Or for happiness? Or for becoming popular? Or for self-confidence and good judgement? David Sumpter answer these questions with an emphatic ‘Yes!' All YOU need are The Ten Equations. In this lecture David will reveal three of these: the confidence equation that helps gamblers know when they have a winning strategy; the influencer equation that shapes our social interactions; and the learning equation that YouTube used to get us addicted to their videos. A small group of mathematicians have used these equations to revolutionise our world. Now you can use them too to better manage your time and make money, have a more balanced approach to your popularity and even to become a nicer person. To order the book 'The Ten Equations That Rule the World' signed by David Sumpter from Blackwell's Bookshop, email @email by 15 November and they will provide you with all the information you need. David Sumpter is Professor of Applied Mathematics at the University of Uppsala, Sweden. Watch live (no need to register): The Oxford Mathematics Public Lectures are generously supported by XTX Markets. |
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Heather Harrington wins Leverhulme Prize
Oxford Mathematician Heather Harrington has won one of this year's prestigious Philip Leverhulme Prizes. The award recognises the achievement of outstanding researchers whose work has already attracted international recognition and whose future career is exceptionally promising. Heather certainly fits that bill. She has already won the Whitehead and Adams prizes for her work which covers a range of topics in applied mathematics, including algebraic systems biology, inverse problems, computational biology, and information processing in biological and chemical systems. Heather is the Co-Director of the Centre for Topological Data Analysis in Oxford. Heather said of the award: I'm really humbled and honoured to have received this prize. My research is only possible through extensive collaborative networks, and I'm very grateful to my collaborators. I am hoping the prize funds can go towards exploring new research ideas as well as supporting students interested in research careers at the interface between pure and applied mathematics. Each of the 30 Prize Winners receives £100,000 which can be used over two or three years to advance their research. |
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Why Study Mathematics? and The Wonder Book of Geometry - two new books from Oxford Mathematicians
Vicky Neale and David Acheson are two of Oxford Mathematics's most engaging and accessible speakers and writers, and they both have new books to prove it. In Why Study Mathematics? Vicky describes the experience of studying mathematics at University as well as discussing the many benefits of a mathematics degree. Nick Higham, Royal Society Research Professor, University of Manchester, says, "I recommend it to all prospective maths students and their parents." In The Wonder Book of Geometry, this week's New Scientist 'Don't Miss' Book of the Week, David take us on a geometrical tour from Ancient Greece to the present day. Packed with illustrations, the book demonstrates why geometry is the spirit of mathematics. Both books have a simple message: mathematics is dazzling; and it is also invaluable. |
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Roger Penrose joint winner of the 2020 Nobel Prize for Physics
The 2020 Nobel Prize for Physics has been awarded to Roger Penrose, Reinhard Genzel and Andrea Ghez for their work on black holes. Oxford Mathematician Penrose is cited “for the discovery that black hole formation is a robust prediction of the general theory of relativity.” Mike Giles, Head of the Mathematical Institute in Oxford, said "We are absolutely delighted for Roger - it is a wonderful recognition of his ground-breaking contributions to mathematical physics." Roger himself said: "It is a huge honour to receive this Prize. In 1964 the existence of Black Holes was not properly appreciated. Since then they have become of increased importance in our understanding of the Universe and I believe this could increase in unexpected ways in the future." Sir Roger Penrose is famous for his many contributions to the mathematical physics of general relativity and cosmology. In 1965 with his ground-breaking paper "Gravitational Collapse and Space-Time Singularities" he predicted the existence of black holes, astronomical objects so dense that the geometry of space-time becomes singular inside them and not even light can escape their gravitational attraction. This remains, to this day, one of the most astonishing consequences of Einstein's theory of General Relativity, and we now see that they do exist in nature. Roger also pioneered the development of the mathematical theory that describes the structure of space-time and, together with Stephen Hawking, he developed singularity theorems that form the basis of the modern theory of black holes. In parallel, he developed twistor theory as an approach to the quantization of space-time and gravity. It has since become a powerful tool across mathematics and has more recently impacted on physics in the form of 'twistor-string theory' as a tool for calculating scattering amplitudes for collider experiments. It is still actively pursued as an approach to quantum gravity. He has made many other scientific contributions that, despite their recreational origin, have nevertheless had Nobel prize winning impact. His quasi-periodic tilings have a crystallographically forbidden 5-fold symmetry. These have not only inspired much mathematical research, but were subsequently discovered by Schechtman in 1984 to be realised in quasi-crystals that can be made in the laboratory. Roger Penrose, together with his father, was the originator of Escher's famous and iconic impossible pictures. His theory of spin networks in his Adam's prize essay has become one of the pillars of 'loop quantum gravity' and now has a worldwide following. Amongst his most cited papers is the theory of generalised inverses of matrices that have applications from statistics through to engineering. Another particularly influential strand has been his work on the foundations of quantum mechanics, both on realistic models of wave function collapse, and on time asymmetry therein and its relation to that in thermodynamics and in the big bang versus gravitational collapse. His early work in the ‘70s and ‘80s laid the foundations of what is now a worldwide endeavour. Roger Penrose is Emeritus Rouse Ball Professor of Mathematics and a fellow of Wadham College in Oxford Below are pictures from the Swedish Embassy in London where Roger was presented with his Nobel medal and diploma by the Swedish Ambassador on 8 December 2020. In 2018 Roger Penrose gave an Oxford Mathematics Public Lecture where he outlined his latest thinking on Cosmology and in an interview with Hannah Fry talked about his career and how he wasn't always so far ahead of the game, especially when it came to arithmetic. The video is below the pictures.
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Oxford Mathematics Online Public Lecture: Tim Harford - How to Make the World Add up. Thursday 8 October 5-6pm
Oxford Mathematics Online Public Lecture:Tim Harford - How to Make the World Add up Thursday 8 October 2020 When was the last time you read a grand statement, accompanied by a large number, and wondered whether it could really be true? Statistics are vital in helping us tell stories – we see them in the papers, on social media, and we hear them used in everyday conversation – and yet we doubt them more than ever. But numbers, in the right hands, have the power to change the world for the better. Contrary to popular belief, good statistics are not a trick, although they are a kind of magic. Good statistics are like a telescope for an astronomer, or a microscope for a bacteriologist. If we are willing to let them, good statistics help us see things about the world around us and about ourselves. Tim Harford is a senior columnist for the Financial Times, the presenter of Radio 4’s More or Less and is a visiting fellow at Nuffield College, Oxford. His books include The Fifty Things that Made the Modern Economy, Messy, and The Undercover Economist. To order a personalised copy of Tim's book email @email, providing your name and contact phone number/email and the personalisation you would like. You can then pick up from 16/10 or contact Blackwell's on 01865 792792 from that date to pay and have it sent. Watch online (no need to register): The Oxford Mathematics Public Lectures are generously supported by XTX Markets. |
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Oxford Mathematician and Fantasy Football winner kicks off the new Public Lecture season
The Premier League football season starts on 12 September and that means so does the Fantasy Premier League. So how are you going to play it this time? Need some tips? Joshua Bull from Oxford Mathematics won last season’s competition from nearly 8 million entrants. He kicks off the new Oxford Mathematics Public Lecture Season by telling you how. Fantasy Football is played by millions of people worldwide, and there are countless strategies that you can choose to try to beat your friends and win the game. But what’s the best way to play? Should you be patient and try to grind out a win, or are you better off taking some risks and going for glory? Should you pick players in brilliant form, or players with a great run of fixtures coming up? And what is this Fantasy Football thing anyway? As with many of life’s deep questions, maths can help us shed some light on the answers. We’ll explore some classic mathematical problems which help us understand the world of Fantasy Football. We’ll apply some of the modelling techniques that mathematicians use in their research to the problem of finding better Fantasy Football management strategies. And - if we’re lucky - we’ll answer the big question: Can maths tell us how to win at Fantasy Football? Joshua Bull is a Postdoctoral Research Associate in the Mathematical Institute in Oxford and the winner of the 2019-2020 Premier League Fantasy Football competition. Watch live (no need to register): The Oxford Mathematics Public Lectures are generously supported by XTX Markets. |
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Richard Wade and Erik Panzer awarded Royal Society University Research Fellowships
Oxford Mathematicians Richard Wade and Erik Panzer have been awarded Royal Society University Research Fellowships for 2020. The Research Fellowship scheme was established to identify outstanding early career scientists who have the potential to become leaders in their chosen fields and provide them with the opportunity to build an independent research career. Ric's main research area is geometric group theory, particularly the study of free groups and their automorphisms. He's interested in invariants of groups coming from topology (like cohomology) and rigidity problems. He also looks at trees and their deformation spaces. Erik's research interests cover the mathematics of perturbative quantum (field) theory, in particular Feynman integrals, deformation quantization and resummation.
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