The Math Major
CSU Fresno Mathematics Department
September 27, 1996
Vol 1. No. 3
Editor: Dr. Larry Cusick
Paul Erdos
The Hungarian mathematician Paul Erdos passed away on Friday September 20 at the age of 83. Dr. Erdos was known throughout the mathematical community as one of the most prolific collaborators in mathematics. As of May 1996, Erdos had worked with 462 coauthors.
His remarkable career spanned over 60 years. Remarkable indeed, since he had no permanent teaching position. Erdos would travel from mathematician to mathematician, accepting their hospitality and repaying with a collaboration in attacking a mathematical problem. There will be two showings of the video "N is a Number" (a 50 minute documentary about Paul Erdos) on Tuesday October 8, 2pm and 3pm in PB 390. Come and watch the story of an extraordinary mathematician.
The Math Department Colloquia are a series of talks intended for a general audience. Everyone is
encouraged to attend and the talks are directed at people who have a reasonable comprehension of
the topics in undergraduate mathematics. Come meet our undergraduates, graduate students and
faculty as well as our distinguished guest speakers. For more info, contact Dr. Sean Cleary . Listed below are the first two scheduled colloquia.
- Date: Monday, October 7-th.
- Speaker:
Dr. Abigail Thompson from the UC Davis Department of Mathematics.
- Title:
``Knots, Links and Three Manifolds"
- Time: 2:30-3:20pm. (Tea and cookies will be served beforehand at 2pm in PB 390.)
- Location: Science 143.
***
- Date: Monday, October 14-th
- Speaker: Dr. Katherine St. John from the University of Pennsylvania Department of Mathematics.
- Title: "What Computers Can't Do: The Halting Problem"
- Time: 2:30-3:20pm (Tea and cookies will be served beforehand at 2pm in PB 428.)
- Location: Science 143.
Scholarship Opportunity
If you are a first-generation, low-income CSU Fresno undergraduate student and interested in pursuing a graduate degree, then you are eligible to apply for the Ronald E. McNair Post-Baccalaureate Achievement Program. If interested, stop by the math department office to look at the brochure.
Student E-Mail List
From time to time the department receives e-mails about visitations, jobs, etc. that are of interest to students. If you would like these to be forwarded to you via email, contact Dr. Arnold (department chair) at arnold@zimmer and request that your name be placed on the e-mail list.
Job Search
- Wednesday October 2 is Career Day. Representatives from approximately 60 business, industry and government organizations will be on the balcony of the University Student Union to discuss general career information.
- Monique Mangino, representing Lockheed Martin Technical Operations at Sunnyvale, will be on campus October 17 for interviews. If you are interested you should contact the campus Career Center (278-2381).
- On Monday October 21 (12 noon-1 pm in PB 390), Vicki Hellenas, Career Counselor the School of Natural Sciences will be speaking on how to get ready for the job search process, where to look, and other related concerns. For more information call 278-2382.
Math Club News
There is a rumor that a Math Club is beginning to form. Contact math major Tina Attashian for rumor verification.
The Putnam Exam
The fifty-seventh annual William Lowell Putnam mathematical competition will be held on Saturday, December 7. This is a national level competition of college mathematics students that is run by the Mathematical Association of America. Any undergraduate college student may enter. The deadline for registration is Monday October 14, but if you wish to participate you must contact Dr. Larry Cusick by Thursday October 10 so that the registration materials can be sent in time to meet October 14 deadline. The CSU Fresno mathematics department is offering a $100 first prize and a $75 second prize for the two top scoring Fresno contestants. (To qualify, you must receive a non-zero score--no mean feat in itself.) The Fresno contestants would take the exam in Fresno.
There will be an organizational meeting of the Fresno Problem Solving Group on Thursday October 3 at 3pm in PB 390. The FPSG works on, and submits solutions to, math problems published in math undergraduate journals. Any undergraduate or graduate student is welcome. If you are interested, but cannot attend the first meeting, contact Dr. Larry Cusick.
Problem Corner
Problem 1.2: Is there a set S of positive integers such that
a number is in S if and only if it is a sum of
two distinct members of S or a sum of two distinct
positive integers not in S?
Solution to Problem 1.2: S is the set of positive integers not in {1, 2, 4, 7, 10}. Here is why. Neither 1 nor 2 can be in S obviously. Hence 3 is in S (3 = 1 + 2). By further trial and error we find that 4, 7 and 10 are in S, but 5, 6, 8 and 9 are not in S. Finally, we get to 11, 12 and 13 are in S, and hence any natural number greater than 13 must be in S.
Correct solutions to problem 1.2 were received from Anar Ahmedov, Kevin Milam and David Yoshihara.
New Problem
Problem 1.3: Among all triangles whose three vertices lie on a circle of unit radius, find the maximum value of
(a + b + c)/(Sin A + Sin B + Sin C)
where a, b and c are the respective side lengths and A, B, C are the internal angle measures of the triangle.
Solutions may be delivered to the
math department office (for Dr. Cusick) or by e-mail at larry_cusick@csufresno.edu. no later than Thursday September 26, 4pm. There is a $75 dollar first prize and a $50 second prize to be awarded at the end of the semester to the student(s) who submit the most correct solutions.
CSU Fresno Math Department Home Page
Larry Cusick's Home Page
California State University, Fresno