The creative work of mathematicians and computer scientists is everywhere around us. Whether it is designing new more efficient cars or faster planes, sending people into space or predicting the weather, developing new medication or new treatment for patients, preserving the environment or understanding our economy and the financial markets, mathematicians and computer scientists are working hand in hand with engineers, scientists, economists to improve our live and our society.
Below is a description of the First Year Research Groups in Mathematics. For the most recent diving into research courses check out Clark University's research page
Research Group 1: Mathematics behind Plasmas
Plasma televisions, plasma lights, the heat around the space shuttle caused by plasma, laser treatments in medicine, production of microchips for computers are just a few
applications of plasmas that became a big part of our life. To learn about plasmas and how they are obtained, students will first visit the industrial laboratory of a leading plasma physicist, who is the winner of the Maxwell Prize in Physics. They will then
develop and study mathematical models that explain the experiments and help to obtain plasmas with certain properties.
(Instructor: N.Sternberg)
Research Group 2: Number Theory and its Applications
Humans have been studying the integers ever since they discovered they had fingers and could count. In the past, the study of number theory has been motivated by commerce, astronomy, religion, and amusement. Today it has important applications in many branches of mathematics, physics, and engineering, and it is a source of some of the deepest problems in modern pure mathematics. In particular, it plays a key role in security issues. In this group, we will discuss some of the historical and cultural aspects of number theory, and then move on towards its more modern applications.
(Instructor: L. Morris)
Research Group 3: Knots and Mathematics
Physicists tie knots in cooked spaghetti to study how materials break down when subjected to stress. Chemists synthesize knotted polymers. To decipher the details of cellular reproduction, biologists watch long strands of DNA tie and untie themselves.
All these applications of knots to the sciences - and more - depend on mathematics. Knot theory started to develop in the early 20th century and is now one of the most vibrant areas of on-going mathematical research. Using computers, students will draw and manipulate mathematical knots, study the geometry and algebra of knots, and learn how knots are being applied by scientists.
(Instructor: L. Rudolph)