12th IMA Early Career Mathematicians Conference
I’m just on my way back from Newcastle and the 12th IMA Early Career Mathematicians Conference.
I don’t often get time to sit and think broadly about Mathematics any more. When I do get the chance it’s usually very specific thoughts, to help me broaden my understanding of the fields I’m concentrating on, such as Logic, Computability and Decision Making Processes.
I’ve thoroughly enjoyed today as it gave me a chance to escape from my “usual mathematics” and listen to lectures on different mathematical topics.
I particularly enjoyed Ron Knott’s lecture on Fibonacci numbers, as it reminded me of the early days of my Degree course when we studied them in some detail. The patterns you find in Fibonacci numbers are particularly beautiful and a great signpost to other areas of elegance and beauty within Mathematics.
Lindsay-Marie Armstrong and Sharon Evans gave a talk discussing the differences between a Ph.D route and a route into industry for Mathematicians. I came away from the talk pleased and satisfied with the route I’ve taken so far which has seen me steer past both options to work specifically in the Commercial world. Everyone is different and had my choices and opportunities earlier in life been different then maybe I’d be saying other things right now. That said, I realised that I do enjoy how the application of my Mathematics brings about real change in Commercial fortunes and the results can be seen relatively quickly.
I’ve always been fascinated by the History of Mathematics and how the work of great Mathematicians has changed the face of the world as we know it. I was particularly pleased to see a lecture on the History of Euler on today’s agenda. Robin Wilson’s lecture was fun, very informative and gave a real picture into the life and work of the great man.
The lecture on Dynamic Networks by Nira Chamberlain showed how the topology and nodes of a network can change over time. I came away wondering how some of the concepts discussed in this lecture impact on problems in Game Theory and Probability, such as the Gambler’s Ruin problem, which I consider in my daily Mathematics.
Robin Johnson’s lecture on Single Perturbation Theory reminded me how important it is for a speaker to be passionate about their subject and enjoy what they’re talking about. I haven’t used the methods Robin talked about for nearly 6 years and some of it was a little hazy. Without the enthusiastic and knowledgable delivery of the lecture, I’m not sure I would have dusted off the dark corner of my memory concerned with methods of solving awkward differential equations. It was an impressive demonstration of how to make a very technical lecture interesting and engaging. I’ve taken away a lot from this lecture which I’ll apply to my own teaching and training in the future.
The final lecture was on Magnetohydrodynamics and the Solar Corona by James McLaughlin. This is an area I’ve never looked at before. The meshing together of Electromagnetism with Fluid Dynamics provides an interesting example of how distinct areas of Mathematics cross over to produce new and important results.
It was a great day of Mathematics which has re-energised my appetite for Mathematics away from the problems I study day to day. I’m really pleased I made the effort to travel to the conference and hope it will prove fruitful in the months to come.