Oxford Mathematics Public Lectures

Starting from just a sheet of paper, by folding, stacking, crumpling, sometimes tearing, Tadashi will explore a diversity of phenomena, from magic tricks and geometry through elasticity and the traditional Japanese art of origami to medical devices and an ‘h-principle’. Much of the show consists of table-top demonstrations, which you can try later with friends and family.

So, take a sheet of paper. . .

Tadashi Tokieda is a professor of mathematics at Stanford.  He grew up as a painter in Japan, became a classical philologist (not to be confused with philosopher) in France and, having earned a PhD in pure mathematics from Princeton, has been an applied mathematician in England and the US; all in all, he has lived in eight countries so far.  Tadashi is very active in mathematical outreach, notably with the African Institute for Mathematical Sciences. You'll find him on Numberphile's YouTube channel.

Please email @email to register.

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

Please note this lecture is at the Science Museum, London, SW7.

In July 2022 Oxford Mathematician James Maynard received the Fields Medal, the highest honour for a mathematician under the age of 40, for his groundbreaking work on prime numbers. In this lecture he will explain the fascinations and frustrations of the primes before sitting down with Hannah to discuss his work and his life. 

Please email @email to register.

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

Oxford Mathematics Public Lecture

Cascading Principles - Conrad Shawcross, Martin Bridson and James Sparks with Fatos Ustek

Thursday 23 February, 2023
5pm - 6.15pm Andrew Wiles Building, Mathematical Institute, Oxford

Cascading Principles is an exhibition of nearly 40 stunning, mathematically inspired sculptures which are living alongside the mathematicians that inspired them in the Andrew Wiles Building, home to Oxford Mathematics. In this 'lecture', chaired by exhibition curator Fatos Ustek, Conrad will talk about what motivates his work, and how the possibilities and uncertainties of science inform his art. In turn, mathematicians Martin Bridson and James Sparks will describe how a mathematician responds to art motivated by their subject. 

There will be an opportunity to view the exhibition from 4pm on the day of the lecture.

Conrad Shawcross specialises in mechanical sculptures based on philosophical and scientific ideas. He is the youngest living member of the Royal Academy of Arts. James Sparks is Professor of Mathematical Physics and Head of the Mathematical Institute in Oxford. Martin Bridson is Whitehead Professor of Pure Mathematics in Oxford and President of the Clay Mathematics Institute. Fatos Ustek is a curator and writer and a leading voice in contemporary art.

Please email @email to register.

The Oxford Mathematics Public Lectures and the Conrad Shawcross Exhibition are generously supported by XTX Markets.

Oxford Mathematics Christmas Public Lecture

In this talk we'll look at a variety of delicious delights through a lens of fluid dynamics and mathematical modelling. From perfect roast potatoes to sweet sauces, mathematics gets everywhere!

Helen Wilson is Head of the Department of Mathematics at UCL. She is best known for her work on the chocolate fountain (which will feature in this lecture) but does do serious mathematical modelling as well.

Please email @email to register. The lecture will be followed by mince pies and drinks for all.

This lecture will be available on our Oxford Mathematics YouTube Channel at 5pm on 20th December.

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

A calculator processes numbers without caring that these numbers refer to items in our shopping, or the calculations involved in designing an airplane. Number without context is a remarkable abstraction that we learn as infants and which has profoundly affected our world.

Our lives start, progress in complex ways, and are finally complete. So do tasks executed on a computer. Multimodal streams are a pervasive “type”, and even without fixing the context, have a rich structure. Developing this structure leads to wide-ranging tools that have had award-winning impact on methodology in health care, finance, and computer technology.

Terry Lyons is Professor of Mathematics in Oxford and a Fellow of St Anne's College. His research is supported through the DataSig and Cimda-Oxford programmes.

Please email @email to register.

The lecture will be available on our Oxford Mathematics YouTube Channel on 09 November at 5 pm.

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

In December 2021 mathematicians at Oxford and Sydney universities together with their collaborators at DeepMind announced that they had successfully used tools from machine learning to discover new patterns in mathematics. But what exactly had they done and what are its implications for the future of mathematics and mathematicians?

This online event will feature short talks from each of the four collaborators explaining their work followed by a panel discussion addressing its wider implications.

The speakers:
Alex Davies - DeepMind
Andras Juhasz - University of Oxford
Marc Lackenby - University of Oxford
Geordie Williamson - University of Sydney

The panel will be chaired by Jon Keating, Sedleian Professor of Natural Philosophy in Oxford.

This is an online only lecture which every one is free to watch:
Oxford Mathematics YouTube

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

A collaborative art installation celebrating the joy, creativity and beauty of mathematics has been in the works for the past two years, and will soon be ready to emerge from its long gestation. The original idea, conceived by textile artist Dominique Ehrmann and mathematician Ingrid Daubechies inspired a team of 24 Mathemalchemists to work together, transforming the whole conception in the process, and bringing their individual expertise and whimsy to a large installation.

Despite the challenges of Covid-19, the team created a fantasy world where herons haul up nets loaded with special knots in the Knotical scene, a tortoise meditates while ambling along Zeno's path, chipmunks and squirrels ponder the mysteries of prime numbers, and a cat named Arnold bakes cookies that tile the plane in the Mandelbrot bakery; and a myriad more mathematical ideas swirl through the air.

This presentation will introduce some of the ideas and components, and show the team at work. Here's a sneak preview:
www.mathemalchemy.org
@mathemalchemy

Multi-award winning Ingrid Daubechies is James B. Duke Distinguished Professor of Mathematics and Electrical and Computer Engineering at Duke University.

Watch (no need to register and it will remain available after broadcast):
Oxford Mathematics YouTube

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

[[{"fid":"62753","view_mode":"media_397x223","fields":{"format":"media_397x223","field_file_image_alt_text[und][0][value]":false,"field_file_image_title_text[und][0][value]":false},"type":"media","field_deltas":{"1":{"format":"media_397x223","field_file_image_alt_text[und][0][value]":false,"field_file_image_title_text[und][0][value]":false}},"attributes":{"class":"media-element file-media-397x223","data-delta":"1"}}]]