Biography:
Frank Morgan works in minimal surfaces and studies the behavior and
structure of minimizers in various dimensions and settings. His three
texts on Geometric Measure Theory: a Beginner's Guide 1995, Calculus Lite
1997, and Riemannian Geometry: a Beginner's Guide 1998, will soon be joined
by The Math Chat Book 1999, based on his live call-in Math Chat TV show
and Math Chat column, both available at www.maa.org. (contd)
Biography:
Nigel Boston grew up in England and attended Cambridge and Harvard.
After a year in Paris and two in Berkeley, he went to the University of
Illinois where he has been ever seince, except for six months at the Newton
Institute. His original work was in algebraic number theory and closely
related to the work used to prove Fermat's Last Theorem. (contd)
Abstract: Electronic commerce requires the transmission of private information over public channels. Mathematically-based public-key cryptosystems have been developed for this purpose, but they all share one potentially disturbing feature, namely that our peace of mind depends on an eavesdropper's inability to solve some hard math problem. I shall describe society's increasing dependency on number theory and whether we can sleep soundly in light of some recent advances.
SOAP
BUBBLE
GEOMETRY
CONTEST
Professor Frank Morgan - Williams College
Friday, March 17, 2000, 7:00 - 8:00, Room E104 of
Moench Hall.
Abstract: Mathematicians are just beginning to understand soap bubbles on their way to understanding the universe. This guessing contest includes demonstrations, explanations, and prizes.
DOUBLE
BUBBLE
CONJECTURE
Professor Frank Morgan - Williams College
Saturday, March 18, 2000, 9:30-10:30 Room E104
of Moench Hall.
Abstract: A single round soap bubble provides the least-area way to enclose a given volume of air. The Double Bubble Conjecture says that the familiar double soap bubble provides the least-area way to enclose and separate two given volumes of air. A few years ago media attention focused on the announcement by Hass, Hutchings, and Schlafly of a computer proof for the case of equal volumes, which can be traced back to work by undergraduates. Now there are rumors of a proof of the general case in R3, and an extension to R4 by undergraduates.