MathsJam 2024 - Weekend of November 2nd/3rd

Main web site : https://mathsjam.com/gathering/uk/

Tickets : https://mjgathering2024.eventbrite.com/

This site has other information, but might be out-of-date.

The main https://MathsJam.com site contains up-to-date information

Here are talk submissions from 2019.

SATURDAY

SESSION 1a : 14:15

Speaker : Colin and others
Title : Welcome to MathsJam X!
Abstract : Welcome, setting the scene, choosing judges, and generally getting underway

Speaker : Adam Townsend
Title : Mathematical socks: A review
Abstract : Maybe you also receive maths-themed socks for Christmas. In this walkthrough, I com-pair and rank the most popular maths for socks, and try to rev-heel who designs these in the first place... no mean feet.

Speaker : Belgin Seymenoglu
Title : Math Blaster
Abstract : Math Blaster is a classic mathsy game many of you will have played in your childhood. But did you know it was first released in 1983? And which version did you play? I'll show you the Sega Mega Drive version of the game in my talk, and give you my review. You can look forward to some 16-bit screenshots, too!

Speaker : Daniele Aurelio
Title : The actual Library of Babel
Abstract : In his 1941 short story "La biblioteca de Babel", Argentine author and librarian J. L. Borges envisioned a gigantic library containing any possible book. But this is just literary fiction, isn't it?

Speaker : Rachel Wright
Title : A problem of (inadvertent) pattern making
Abstract : A problem of (inadvertent) pattern making

Speaker : Adam Atkinson
Title : Roman Mathematics
Abstract : I will talk about Roman Mathematics. Not Ancient Rome, though.

Speaker : Geoff Morley
Title : Neosemimagic Tilings
Abstract : A generalisation of both semimagic squares and perfect squared squares brings new challenges.

Speaker : Laurence O'Toole
Title : Predicting Groupthink - A Magic Trick
Abstract : We will play a game where the audience literally holds all the cards. Some guests will be invited to make a few straightforward choices. And at the end, magic happens!

SESSION 1b : 15:30

Speaker : Peter Rowlett
Title : #tmwyk
Abstract : Games, puzzles and fun ways my son and I have been playing with mathematics, pre-school and outside of the formal curriculum.

Speaker : Tony Mann
Title : A curious magic square trick
Abstract : I recently came across this interesting variation of the "I will construct a magic square for a given target sum" trick.

Speaker : Mark Fisher
Title : Mersenne and Cole
Abstract : One heroic lecture that filled in an almost inconsequential piece of maths

Speaker : Eva Lesny
Title : How many are in a few?
Abstract : How many are in a few and how much is a handful?

Speaker : David Mitchell
Title : The Brothers Fibonacci; Etiam mingens mathematicae memini!
Abstract : Shyness in the gents pointed Fibonacci to his celebrated discovery. Even greater shyness leads to a generalisation of his sequence and of the algebraically expressible Golden Ratio to which the ratio of successive numbers converges. (Thanks to Nottingham MathsJam attendees for illuminating observations)

Speaker : Claire Cohen
Title : Exploring shapes with Curvahedra
Abstract : Some interesting topology and shapes made with Curvahedra.

Speaker : Alaric Stephen
Title : Rational Origami
Abstract : Starting with a unit square of paper, how can we fold it to divide a side into a ratio of 1:2? How about 3:4? In this talk we will explore a method for producing any rational ratio using a minimal number of folds.

Speaker : James Grime
Title : S.O.X.
Abstract : One of my favourite mathematical books

SESSION 1c 16:35

Speaker : Tom Button
Title : Is the mathematical mind flat?
Abstract : Do we solve mathematical problems subconsciously or is this just a myth?

Speaker : Sam Hartburn
Title : (Not) Squaring the Circle
Abstract : It's well known that it's not possible to square the circle using ruler and compass. It is, however, possible to square some other shapes.

Speaker : Alexander Bolton
Title : Factor Graphs and Unsupervised Joke Generation
Abstract : I will introduce the concept of factor graphs and describe an application of them to joke generation.

Speaker : Jonathan Welton
Title : Domino Knights and Patios
Abstract : If chess pieces were domino sized, what move would the knight have? And what boards could it tour? And just what has this to do with garden design?

Speaker : Martin Chlond
Title : The Travelling Salesman Problem: A couple of whimsical applications (Part 2)
Abstract : Completion of last years talk.

Speaker : Alistair Bird
Title : The Bottle Imp
Abstract : We introduce the mathematical set-up to the Robert Louis Stevenson short story "The Bottle Imp" - and discuss how to behave before an apocalypse.

Speaker : Karen Hancock
Title : How many ways to turn a corner?
Abstract : Thoughts on the many variations of a sock heel.

Speaker : Yuen Ng
Title : Moving on from Napier's bones...
Abstract : A brief demo of some Genaille-Lucas rulers - does bigger always mean better?

SESSION 1d : 17:45

Speaker : Katie Steckles
Title : Monthly MathsJams
Abstract : A quick review ...

Speaker : Rob Eastaway
Title : Jardin's Principle
Abstract : Why do we make things so complicated when we claim to want simplicity? The answer is that it's inevitable - and this phenomenon has a name.

Speaker : Hannah Gray
Title : Escher in the Palace
Abstract : A very brief introduction to Escher's work and the permanent exhibition in The Hague (my new home!).

Speaker : Gavan Fantom
Title : What if numbers could have negative digits?
Abstract : Imagine if individual digits within a number could be either positive or negative. Could you use small negative digits instead of large positive ones? Could you avoid learning your times tables past five? Join me for a brief introduction to a fascinating approach to arithmetic.

Speaker : Martin Whitworth
Title : Sums of powers
Abstract : I guess most Mathsjammers know the formula for sums of consecutive integers, and many may know the one for sums of squares, but what about higher powers? - and how is Pascal's triangle involved?

Speaker : Elaine Smith
Title : Chinese Take-Away!
Abstract : Discussion on 'Take-Away' techniques: 'borrowing and paying back'; milk-bottle method; decomposition; invisible number line. Why are Chinese Take-Aways easier?

Speaker : Various
Title : Activity Elevator Pitches (two slots)
Abstract : People who have offered to run activities on the Saturday evening can offer a brief description to help entice people.

SUNDAY

SESSION 2a : 09:00

Speaker : Colin Wright
Title : 70 vs 100
Abstract : We all know that if you're travelling faster it takes longer to stop, and we think we know the rules. But do we?

Speaker : Matthew Scroggs
Title : Why and how I wrote a LaTeX package
Abstract : I will tell the story of why and how I wrote a LaTeX package, and how we can use it to revolutionise the notation used for unit vectors.

Speaker : Pat Ashforth
Title : Using maths without knowing it
Abstract : Maths for the maths-phobic knitter

Speaker : Matt Peperell
Title : An unexpected use for the fibonacci sequence
Abstract : It's not just pentagons, pinecones, and snail shells

Speaker : Isabel Coelho
Title : The Mirror Reversal Problem
Abstract : I look in the mirror. My reflection looks back at me. When I wave my right hand, my image waves her left. When I wave my left hand, my image waves her right. Why do mirrors reversal left and right? And, if right becomes left and left becomes right, why does not top become bottom?

SESSION 2b : 09:55

Speaker : Hugh Hunt
Title : Nodes of vibration of a bending beam
Abstract : With a beautiful - and musical - demo, and how this helps if you have a noisy washing machine

Speaker : Alison Eves
Title : Florence Nightingale: the compassionate statistician
Abstract : 2020 is the bicentenary of Florence's birth: a great opportunity to celebrate her contribution to statistics, and their use in saving lives!

Speaker : Andrew Taylor
Title : The "Belt Trick" Spinor
Abstract : I saw a of this lovely geometrical trick on Twitter and wanted to understand it, so I built my own version: https://www.shadertoy.com/view/3t2Xzy It turns out to be related to tricks you can do in real life by rotating a plate or a belt, which reset not after 360º but 720º. I want to show you what I found out and how the trick works, plus a couple of variants.

Speaker : Christian Lawson-Perfect
Title : Baked Sudoku
Abstract : To solve a Sudoku puzzle, bring to a simmer and then leave to cool.

Speaker : Miguel Gonçalves
Title : From a new deck to Si Stebbins
Abstract : How to prepare a Si Stebbins stack from a new deck order during a performance.

Speaker : Stefania Delprete
Title : Why the music staff is not really mathematically correct?
Abstract : Music, lovely music. Five lines, sometimes ten, and little circle on those lines or between two of them. Should we accept that the space between them is the same? Does it make sense? I rather say it doesn't, I rather create an alternative staff!

SESSION 2c : 10:50

This session will be videoed

Speaker : Scott Elliott
Title : Modulating secondary waves into screw threads
Abstract : Deux Nuts is a tricky bolt with two captive nuts that mysteriously twist opposite directions on the same screw thread. How? Scott graphically illustrates the maths of its construction.

Speaker : Sydney Weaver
Title : Permutations of the Cube
Abstract : Discussing approaches to calculating the permutations of a rubik's cube and other twisty puzzles.

Speaker : Miles Gould
Title : Quantum computing in perspective
Abstract : In quantum computers, the state of a "qubit" (quantum bit) can be something in-between 0 and 1 - but in what sense "in-between"? They're not elements of the interval [0, 1], but it turns out that there is a natural geometry for the state space of qubits: *complex projective space*, closely related to the mathematics of perspective drawing.

Speaker : Zoe Griffiths
Title : Two thousand and nineteen
Abstract : Zoe performs a mathematical trick that she designed after reminiscing about key mathematical events of the year 2019.

Speaker : Luna Kirkby
Title : Cursed Regular Expressions
Abstract : We explore a curious relation between computer science and mathematics, and make regular expressions do things they really weren't meant for.

Speaker : Lucy Rycroft-Smith
Title : Ten New Maths Jokes
Abstract : Most maths jokes are terrible. It's time for some brand new ones...

SESSION 2d : 11:45

Speaker : Various
Title : Competition Results!
Abstract : Announcement of competition results.

Speaker : Alison Kiddle
Title : Adventures with Dodecahedra
Abstract : Dodecahedra are pretty cool! In this talk, I will share some of my favourite dodecahedral things you can make and do.

Speaker : Tarim
Title : Horseshoe Orbits
Abstract : Why do the planets and moons in the solar system all spin in the same direction (mostly)? And what does this have to do with the stranger motions of two of the moons of Saturn?

Speaker : Louise Mabbs
Title : Circling the Square & my Mathematical Magic progressions
Abstract : How my Mathematical Magic colouring sequence has progressed from square based grids, to circular designs, through into cog based principals

Speaker : Gordon Hayes
Title : How to Avoid a Hangover Using Maths
Abstract : A little graph theory. This talk will probably give you a hangover instead of helping you avoid one. On the other hand, everyone loves a bit of graph theory!

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