WOMP 2014

We recommend that everyone get a Ventra Card (with automatic reloading, not the full-fledged debit card!) for Chicago public transit.

Talks and forums take place in Eckhart 206. Talks (excluding research talks and forums) will consist of a half-hour lecture followed by a half hour problem session per one hour.

Purple events are mandatory or informational. Come to them.
Green events are math talks meant to refresh your memory and give you an idea of what other people in the department do.
Orange events are for enjoyment and bonding. They are highly recommended.



Week 1

Day Morning Afternoon Evening
Monday
Sept. 15
10am: Welcome and Tour of Hyde Park
Meet in Eckhart 206.
1pm: Linear Algebra (Ian Frankel and Daniel Le)

  • Criterion for diagonalizing a matrix
  • Spectral theorem for normal matrices
  • Unitary operators + Polar decomposition (KAK decomposition)
  • Jordan + rational canonical form (using classification of modules/PIDs)
  • Smith normal form

8pm: Game Night in the Barn
Meet in the Barn (big room on the 3rd floor where Eckhart meets Ryerson) for board and card games. Sponsored by the UChicago chapter of the AWM.
Tuesday
Sept. 16
10am: Multilinear Algebra and Differential Forms (Robin Walters and Bena Tshishiku)
  • Tensor products + their universal properties
  • Symmetric and exterior algebras
  • Wedge product + determinants
  • Exterior derivative + Hodge star and invariant formulations of div/curl/grad/Laplacian + naturality under pullback
  • Cramer’s rule
  • Stokes theorem
  • deRham complex
  • Lie derivative
  • Lie’s magic formula

1pm: Forum on Life in Chicago
3pm-5:30pm: Improv Games in the Barn
First years only.
Wednesday
Sept. 17
10am: Covering Spaces and the Fundamental Group
(Subhadip Chowdhury and Nick Salter)

  • Van Kampen to compute fundamental groups
  • Quotient spaces + quotients by groups (esp. deck groups)
  • Computing fundamental groups from a cell decomposition
  • Galois correspondence
  • Lifting criteria.
1pm: Galois Theory
(Sean Howe)

  • Eisenstein + other irreducibility criteria
  • Galois correspondence
  • Computing explicit Galois groups for polynomials
  • Lifting criteria.

3pm: Finite Representation Theory
(Kevin Casto)

  • Maschke’s Theorem
  • Orthogonality of characters
  • Computing character tables

6pm: Dinner at Medici
For more information, see the Medici website and a map. Meet in the first year office at 5:45pm, or at the restaurant at 6pm.
Thursday
Sept. 18
10am: Commutative Algebra
(Jonathan Wang)
  • Classification of modules over PIDs
  • Chinese Remainder Theorem
  • Localization
  • Going up/going down
  • Affine/projective varieties + many examples
  • Nullstellensatz

11am: Number Theory
(Preston Wake)
  • Dedekind domains & rings of integers
  • Class number
1pm: Trip to Art Institute of Chicago
Meet at the #6 bus stop at 55th and S. Hyde Park Blvd. Admission is free with UChicago student ID. Bus fare is $2.25 each way if you pay cash. See the museum website for more information.
Friday
Sept. 19
10am: Measure Theory
(Rachel Vishnepolsky and Jacob Perlman)

  • Sigma-algebras and measures
  • Axioms of conditional expectation and statement of Radon-Nikodym
  • Fubini
  • L^p spaces
  • Random variables and statement of central limit theorem

1pm: Complex Analysis
(Yiwen Zhou)
  • Holomorphic and meromorphic functions
  • Cauchy integral formula
  • Harmonic functions
  • Conformal maps
2pm: Categories for Working Mathematicians
(Jonathan Rubin)

5pm: Bowling at Seven-Ten Lanes
Meet at Seven-Ten Lanes, near 55th and Ellis.

7pm: Hyde Park Bar Crawl
Starts with dinner at Seven-Ten Lanes. To participate in the bar crawl, you must have either a passport or a US state ID/driver's license, it must not be expired, and it must say that you are at least 21 years old.
Saturday
Sept. 20
5pm: Fall Poker Tournament Spectacular
It will be held at Math Frat at 6pm. (Don't be late!) For those interested, come at 5pm for an explanation of the rules. Cheat sheets will be provided.
We will order vegetarian and non-vegetarian dinner for all those interested. Please bring a little cash for food if you want it.
Sunday
Sept. 21
Day off

Week 2

Day Morning Afternoon Evening
Monday
Sept. 22
10am: Real Analysis
(Max Engelstein)
  • Taylor series with remainder
  • Lagrange multipliers
  • Arzela-ascoli
  • Bounded variation + a.e. differentiability

11am: Fourier Series and Hilbert Spaces
(Daniel Campos-Salas)

1pm: Research Talks Round 1

Robin Walters (Advisor: Victor Ginzburg)
Bobby Wilson (Advisor: Wilhelm Schlag)
Simion Filip (Advisor: Alex Eskin)
Jacob Perlman (Advisor: Greg Lawler)
8pm: Bonfire at the Point
Meet at Promontory Point.
Tuesday
Sept. 23
11:20am: Graduate Orientation
Begins on the main quad with a bagpipe-led procession to Rockefeller Chapel.
1pm: Curvature of Curves and Gaussian Curvature of Surfaces
(Wouter van Limbeek)

2pm: Parallel Transport and Connections
(Sergei Sagetov)

3pm: Graduate Student Social Hour
Takes place on the Midway.
Wednesday
Sept. 24
10:30am: First Year Group Photo
Meet on the front steps of Eckhart.

11am-12pm: Department Orientation

1pm: Faculty Open House

Thursday
Sept. 25
10am: Forum on the First-Year Program
5:30pm: Dinner in Chinatown and North Side Bar Crawl
Meet at the #55 bus stop at 55th and University to take the 55 bus and then the red line to Chinatown.
For those who wish to go by themselves, the address of the restaurant is 2002 S Wentworth Ave, Chicago, IL 60616
Dinner will begin at 6:30 pm
Friday
Sept. 26
11am: Sleep in / Pancake Breakfast
Meet at The Original Pancake House, near 47th St. and Lake Park Ave.
2pm: Research Talks Round 2

Henry Chan (Advisor: Peter May)
Nick Salter (Advisor: Benson Farb)
Valia Gazaki (Advisor: Kazuya Kato)
Daniel Le (Advisor: Matthew Emerton)
5pm: Department Picnic
Organized by the second-year class. Takes place outside Eckhart Hall.
Saturday
Sept. 27
2:30pm: Walk Downtown for Dinner
Meet in the first-year office (or at the Point at 3pm) for a lakeside walk downtown to Giordano's Pizza at 223 W. Jackson Blvd. (map). We will reach the restaurant at around 5:45pm.
Anyone planning to meet us at the restaurant should phone Jonathan Rubin at 410-504-7782 by 4pm so he can make reservations.
Sunday
Sept. 28
Nothing planned. Classes begin Monday!