“Problems and Pipelines: A story from the frontline of data science” at noon on Thursday 4/25 in Olin 268

 

Student Colloquium talk by Professor Patrick McDonald, New College of Florida

Title: Problems and Pipelines: A story from the frontline of data science

Abstract: Suppose you were to suddenly obtain access to a remarkably rich data source, say, a trove of health records. What would you do? In this talk I will sketch how a group at New College handled such a situation. In so doing I will provide you with a glimpse of what it is like to work on a large-scale data science project, paying special attention to the vast array of required skill sets, social constraints and behavior patterns.

“The Dynamics of Continued Fractions” at noon on Thursday 4/11 in Olin 268

Student Colloquium talk by Professor Daniel Visscher, Ithaca College

Title: The Dynamics of Continued Fractions

Abstract: While only rational numbers have a fraction representation, all real numbers have a continued fraction representation. Continued fractions illuminate interesting structure in real numbers, for example, by giving a way to express how close a real number is to being rational. In this talk, we investigate continued fractions from the point of view of a dynamicist, framing the topic in terms of iterating a function and asking questions about how orbits distribute. Multiple flavors of π will be present, and the golden ratio will make approximately 1.618 appearances.