MathsJam 2023 - Weekend of November 11th/12th
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Tickets that do not include accommodation are now available.
If you need a residential ticket, email us for the waiting list.
Here are this year's talk submissions. This ordering is provisional and may be subject to change.
SATURDAY
SESSION 1 : 14:00 - 14:40
- Speaker : Colin and others
- Title : Welcome to MathsJam 2021
- Abstract : Welcome, setting the scene, and generally getting underway
- Speaker : B - Phil Ramsden
- Title : Thought You Were Clever When You Lit The Fuse
- Abstract : You have an unlimited collection of fuses, each of which burns for one hour if lit at one end, and half an hour if lit at both ends at once. Using two fuses, can you time 3/4 of an hour? Using as many fuses as you like, can you time 5/4 of an hour? What durations can you time using your fuses, and what can't be timed in this way? And what has this got to do with the logical foundations of Mathematics?
- Speaker : C - Ben Sparks
- Title : The Cake and the Candles
- Abstract : A puzzle with multiple solution methods, and musings arising.
- Speaker : D - Sam Hartburn
- Title : Extreme String Art (Without the String)
- Abstract : You can make lovely string art by using straight lines to join equally-spaced points on a circle. But why stick to a circle? By changing the initial curve (and using a lot of lines) you can generate a plethora of beautiful designs.
- Speaker : E - Laurence O'Toole
- Title : Predicting Groupthink 2 - A Magic Trick
- Abstract : If everybody in a group has a completely free choice of number, is the result always the same?
Break 14:40 - 15:10
Actual Break 15:10 - 15:30
SESSION 2 : 15:30 - 16:10
- Speaker : A - Alexander Bolton
- Title : The Longest Chess Game?
- Abstract : The World Chess Federation has some rules to prevent games from going on forever. I will outline a proposal by Tom Murphy VII for the longest possible legal chess game, and show the Twitter bot that I made to celebrate this achievement.
- Speaker : B - Philipp Reinhard
- Title : Disturbing Mandelbrot
- Abstract : We'll explore what happens if we play around with the definition of the Mandelbrot set. There will be lots of pictures and animations. And the Riemann zeta function will make an appearance.
- Speaker : C - Sophie Maclean
- Title : MathsJam and Mental Health
- Abstract : This will be different to most talks in that it will contain no Maths. Instead I want to take this opportunity to start a conversation about mental health in Maths and thank the many members of the MathsJam community who helped me in my recovery from mental illness (CW: Mental Illness, Hospitals)
- Speaker : D - Cesco Reale
- Title : Online World Championship of Abstract Games for Nations
- Abstract : I will present the Mochalunt, Online World Championship of Abstract Games for Nations, that will start probably in January: definition of abstract games, spirit and structure of the tournament, questions. Link to their web page: https://www.abstrakta.info/mochalunt.html
- Speaker : E - Gavan Fantom
- Title : Fast Inverse Square Root
- Abstract : The Fast Inverse Square Root is a notorious algorithm for quickly approximating the reciprocal of a square root which is both simple and impenetrable in equal measure. Find out what it is, why it exists, and develop a mathematical intuition for why the f(...) it works.
- Speaker : F - Johnny Ball
- Title : How to draw a Perfect Egg Shape using a Pentagon and Pentagram.
- Abstract : We have here a Pentagon with a Pentagram inside it. The Pentagram was the Symbol or badge of the Pythagorean's. It is fascinating because longer and shorter lines are always in Golden Ratio to each other. By adding just three lines to the diagram, you have all you need, with a pair of compasses, to draw a perfect Egg. With compasses, form four curves and the Perfect Egg is achieved. Test it by holding a hens egg against it and see how the curves match. So the bottom wider end of a Hen's Egg is an almost perfect semi or half sphere. Now, when a hen lays an egg, which end appears first? It is this wide semi spherical end. Ouch.
Break 16:10 - 16:40
Actual Break 16:40 - 16:50
SESSION 3 16:50 - 17:40
- Speaker : Saturday Night Tables
- Title : Elevator Pitches for Saturday Night Tables activities
- Abstract : The organisers of Saturday Night tables activities (taking place 8-9pm) will have a chance to explain/describe what they'll be doing.
- Speaker : A - Katie Steckles
- Title : A Fun Integer Sequence
- Abstract : A famous integer sequence in recreational maths starts 1, 11, 21, 1211, 111221, ... Katie will talk about this sequence, set some related puzzles, and explain why she's recently been inspired to talk about it.
- Speaker : B - Goran Newsum
- Title : Quadrilateral is a misnomer
- Abstract : Why do most shape names follow a pattern apart but four and three sided shapes don't?
- Speaker : E - Nancy Blachman
- Title : COVID Misinformation Spreads because Many Don’t Understand Maths
- Abstract : Until recently, the general public could get by without understanding probability and statistics. But that changed with COVID-19. Now hundreds of thousands of people haven’t gotten vaccinated and are dying because they don’t understand what they hear or read and social media spreads misinformation rapidly.
- Speaker : D - Alexandre Muñiz
- Title : Shaker Dice and Edge Labelings
- Abstract : Shaker dice have a channel where balls fall, and numbers on the channel can be read off to determine the result. Finding useful numberings takes us into graph edge labeling.
- Speaker : F - Simon Bexfield
- Title : 3D Printed Objects
- Abstract : A demonstration of some 3D printed mathematical shapes, including a Menger sponge and dissections of polyhedra.
Break 17:40 - 18:10
Saturday Night Tables 8pm-9pm
SUNDAY
SESSION 4 : 09:30 - 10:10
- Speaker : A - Christian Lawson-Perfect
- Title : Each Edge Peach Pear Plum
- Abstract : I've made another baby, so it's time for another talk about baby maths. Each Peach Pear Plum is a classic picture book for babies, with a beautifully simple rhyming scheme. But I've always wished it was more complete. Join me for an Eulerian tour through fantasy land!
- Speaker : B - Belgin Seymenoglu
- Title : Zoombinis
- Abstract : Belgin plays the remake of a 90s game that teaches mathematical thinking without any equations.
- Speaker : C - James Arthur
- Title : Running Around in Circles
- Abstract : Every week I run an event called parkrun, we go around and around in circles and everytime somebody shouts out how many laps we have done. Any loop can have a similar mapping to numbers. Let's explore this briefly.
- Speaker : D - Matt Peperell
- Title : A set of strange notation systems for sequences of permutations
- Abstract : A certain subset of people, who may or may not be mathematicians, care about permutations and sequences thereof. How can we describe these, and how can we easily commit them to memory?
- Speaker : E - Adam Atkinson
- Title : Is (one of the) biggest always best?
- Abstract : My victims in Pisa often make life needlessly hard for themselves. Multiple times, they have decided that a straightforwardish problem is actually an unsolved problem from a Richard Guy book. I will talk about the unsolved problem.
- Speaker : F - Daniel Santos
- Title : The Sun Numerical System
- Abstract : This talk is going to introduce you to some concepts of numerical systems and Daniel is going to talk how some of the features of the Decimal system give confusion and misunderstandings and complexity in Daniel's point of view. A new numerical system without this problems is going to be explained and introduced by the name of Sun Numerical System (or Neonal).
Break 10:10 - 10:50
Actual Break 10:50 - 11:05
SESSION 5 : 11:05 - 11:45
- Speaker : A - Alison Kiddle
- Title : On Half-Lives and Happiness
- Abstract : This talk is all about half-lives and how they can affect your mood.
- Speaker : C - Tony Mann
- Title : The "Sleeping Beauty" Paradox
- Abstract : I'll outline the "Sleeping Beauty" problem (which has led to over 100 articles in philosophical journals).
- Speaker : B - Francis Hunt
- Title : Flexagons for Year 8
- Abstract : My employer has just started running some maths clubs for year 8 students. So this talk will just tell or remind you what trihexaflexagons and hexaflexagons are and how to make them, and note the 3 most common problems school students encounter when making them; also you're welcome to the slides and templates (pdf/LaTeX) I used.
- Speaker : D - Alistair Bird
- Title : The Princess is in another Castle
- Abstract : My quixotic quest to track down the seemingly shifting origins and variants of the “Princess in a Castle” logic problem.
- Speaker : E - Colin Wright
- Title : Coincidences and Lovely Things in Maths
- Abstract : A list of lovely things in maths
- Speaker : Colin and others
- Title : Competition Results and wrap-up
- Abstract : The winners of the competitions (at various levels) will be announced, and any final announcements made.
Break 11:45 - 12:10
Lunch!
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