Mathematics
Cicadas 101: All buzz, no bite
May. 12, 2011— Vanderbilt commencement speakers may have some unusual competition this year: Nashville’s largest brood of cicadas are predicted to emerge in May and hang around for about five or six weeks. Besides their practice of appearing in 13- or 17-year cycles, cicadas are best known for the buzzing and clicking sounds that they make, which...
Two Vanderbilt University students selected as Goldwater Scholars for 2010-2011 academic year
Apr. 18, 2011—Two Vanderbilt University students have been selected as Goldwater Scholars. Each will receive a two-year scholarship worth $7,500 a year for educational expenses. Each year, Vanderbilt and other four-year universities are given the opportunity to nominate up to four outstanding sophomore and junior students in the math, science and engineering fields. Two-year schools may nominate...
Beyond knot theory
Apr. 14, 2011—I’ve always been fascinated, and occasionally frustrated, by the tendency of string, yarn, rope and wire – any thing that is long, thin and flexible – to knot and tangle. Clearly, I’m not the only one. Mathematicians have been studying knots since the early 1800’s and the field of knot theory is alive and well...
Fields Medalist joins Vanderbilt faculty
Apr. 6, 2011—One of the world’s foremost mathematicians, Vaughan F. R. Jones, has accepted a position as distinguished professor of mathematics at Vanderbilt University beginning in the fall of 2011.