The Secrets of Mathematics: Recent Episodes
Oxford University
A series of talks and lectures from Oxford Mathematicians exploring the power and beauty of their subject. These talks would appeal to anyone interested in mathematics and its ever-growing range of applications from medicine to economics and beyond.
This lecture is a visual treat as Ingrid Daubechies celebrates the joy, creativity and beauty of mathematics. Inspired by textile artist Dominique Ehrmann, Ingrid, with Dominique, conceived the idea of a large mathematical installation that incorporated a myriad of mathematical ideas in an entertaining and visually stimulating way. Aided by the whimsy and imagination of 24 colleagues from across the mathematical universe, the Installation is taking shape - all kinds of shape. So who is Arnold and why is he baking Mandelbrot cookies?
Multi-award winning Ingrid Daubechies is James B. Duke Distinguished Professor of Mathematics and Electrical and Computer Engineering at Duke University. The Oxford Mathematics Public Lectures are generously supported by XTX Markets.
From the creative ensemble behind Complicité’s sensational A Disappearing Number, this two-hander unfolds to reveal an intriguing take on mortality, consciousness and artificial life. Alone in a cube that glows in the darkness, X is content with its infinite universe and abstract thought. But then Y appears, insisting they interact, exposing X to Y's sensory and physical existence. Each begins to hanker after what the other has until a remarkable thing happens … involving a strange loop.
After the screening, Marcus and Victoria are joined by Simon McBurney, founder of Complicité, to discuss the play and mathematics and theatre.
An Oxford Mathematics Public Lecture in partnership with Faber Members.The Oxford Mathematics Public Lectures are generously supported by XTX Markets.
Oxford University's Sedleian Professorship of Natural Philosophy is 400 years old in 2021. The title implies a wide range of study. Current holder Jon Keating does just that in this Public Lecture via the Olympics, machine learning & the Riemann zeta-function, the mathematical object that encodes the mysterious distribution of the prime numbers.
We are on board the Oxford Mathematics Space Probe for this Oxford Mathematics Public Lecture as we explore Black Holes with a Nobel Laureate, a Professor of the History and Philosophy of Physics & a broadcasting legend. EvenAlbert Einstein thought Black Holes impossible. Then in 1965 Roger Penrose provided the Mathematical tools for Physicists to go and find them. A compelling story of 20th Century Science. Oxford Mathematics Public Lecture in partnership with Wadham College.
Science and maths are full of smart tools for explaining the world around us. Those tools can feel far removed from the way the rest of us understand that world. Can we reconcile the two approaches? Oxford Mathematician Anna Seigal provides some answers. The Oxford Mathematics Public Lectures are generously supported by XTX Markets.
Mathematicians get up to all sorts. Geometers and Topologists in particular occupy a world of inconceivable shapes, concepts and dimensions. But how do you visualise such ideas? Sure, there's computer graphics, but what about over here, in the real world? In this lecture Henry Segerman will show just how it can be done with a dazzling array of 3D prints, virtual reality and even spherical video. Most of all, he displays the intrinsic beauty of mathematics.
Oxford Mathematics Public Lectures are generously supported by XTX Markets.
Mathematics has a lot going for it, but David Sumpter argues that it can not only provide you with endless YouTube recommendations, and even make you rich, but it can make you a better person. Oxford Mathematics Public Lectures are generously supported by XTX Markets
You have to sympathise with statistics. Misunderstood and misused when all they want to do is accumulate. What they need is a little human understanding. Tim Harford's Oxford Mathematics Public Lecture does just that. No slides, no notes, just Tim telling us how to be on our guard.
The Oxford Mathematics Public Lectures are generously supported by XTX Markets.
Oxford Mathematician Josh Bull won the 2019-2020 Premier League Fantasy Football competition from nearly 8 million entrants. So how did he do it? Did he by any chance use mathematics? In this lecture Josh shows just how useful maths can be, not just in dealing with serious issues, but in dealing with the things that we do and enjoy in our everyday lives.
The Oxford Mathematics Public Lectures are generously supported by XTX Markets.
The Grey Squirrel invasion explaining tumour cell proliferation? Alan Turing explaining football shirt patterns? The close relationship between slugs and the human heart? What is the common link? Mathematics of course. And Philip Maini. Oxford Mathematics Public Lectures are generously supported by XTX Markets.
In this, the second online lecture we are making widely available, Ben Green introduces and delivers a short lecture on Primitive Roots, part of the Number Theory Lecture course for Second Year Undergraduates. We are making these lectures available (there are many more on this YouTube Channel via the Playlist) to give an insight in to the student experience and how we teach Maths in Oxford. All lectures are followed by tutorials where pairs of students spend an hour with their tutor to go through the lectures and accompanying work sheets. An overview of the course and the relevant materials is available here: https://courses.maths.ox.ac.uk/node/44147
Oxford has gone online for lockdown. So how do our student lectures look? Let Marc Lackenby show you as he looks at paths between vertices in a graph with a view to finding the shortest route between any two vertices. Works for your Satnav for example. We are making these lectures available (there are many more on this YouTube Channel via the Playlist) to give an insight in to the student experience and how we teach Maths in Oxford. All lectures are followed by tutorials where pairs of students spend an hour with their tutor to go through the lectures and accompanying work sheets. An overview of the course and the relevant materials is available here: https://courses.maths.ox.ac.uk/node/44174
Smartphones will help save lives. Smartphones' value is exaggerated. What is the reality? And, as ever, what is the Maths behind it all? Leading Network Scientist Renaud Lambiotte downloads the facts in this Oxford Mathematics Public Lecture.
Models. They are dominating our Lockdown lives. But what is a mathematical model? We hear a lot about the end result, but how is it put together? What are the assumptions? And how accurate can they be? In our first online only lecture Robin Thompson, Research Fellow in Mathematical Epidemiology in Oxford, will explain. Robin is working on the ongoing modelling of Covid-19 and has made many and varied media appearances in the past few weeks
Oxford Mathematician Peter Howell starts the second part of the 2nd year Differential Equations course which focuses on boundary problems. This lecture follows on from the lecture series last term - the first lecture of that series can be seen here. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0mGAh2GlD6I&t=708s
We are making these lectures available to give an insight in to the student experience and how we teach. All lectures are followed by tutorials where pairs of students spend an hour with their tutor to go through the lectures and accompanying work sheets. An overview of the course and the relevant materials is available here: https://courses.maths.ox.ac.uk/node/44050
So much noise, so many opinions. Perhaps time for Occam's Razor to start its scientific shaving? In this latest Oxford Mathematics Public Lecture Alan Champneys argues that Mathematics is at its best when it challenges assumptions. For example the wobbling of the Millennium Bridge in London in 2000. Caused by crowds synchronising? Alan begs to differ.
Our latest student lecture features the first lecture in the third year course on Mathematical Models of Financial Derivatives from Sam Cohen where we hear that the role of derivatives is not to make money but to avoid being exploited. We are making these lectures available to give an insight in to the student experience and how we teach. All lectures are followed by tutorials where pairs of students spend an hour with their tutor to go through the lectures and accompanying work sheets. An overview of the course and the relevant materials is available here: https://courses.maths.ox.ac.uk/node/42203
Our latest student lecture features the first lecture in the second term introductory course on Linear Algebra from leading Oxford Mathematician James Maynard. We are making these lectures available to give an insight in to the student experience and how we teach. All lectures are followed by tutorials where pairs of students spend an hour with their tutor to go through the lectures and accompanying work sheets. An overview of the course and the relevant materials is available here:
https://courses.maths.ox.ac.uk/node/43829
How do you make a star-shaped Cheerio? How do they make the glass on your smartphone screen so flat? And how can you make a vacuum filter that removes the most dust before it blocks? All of these challenges fall under the umbrella of industrial mathematics and they all have a common theme: we know the final properties of the product we want to make and need to come up with a way of manufacturing this. Ian Griffiths demonstrates how we can use mathematics to start with the final desired product and trace the problem ‘back in time’ to manufacture products that would otherwise be impossible to produce.
Ian Griffiths is a Professor of Industrial Mathematics and a Royal Society University Research Fellow in the Mathematical Institute at the University of Oxford.
Carlo Rovelli delivers The Roger Penrose Lecture on the Quantum structure of Spacetime. In developing the mathematical description of quantum spacetime, Loop Quantum Gravity stumbled upon a curious mathematical structure: graphs labelled by spins. This turned out to be precisely the structure of quantum space suggested by Roger Penrose two decades earlier, just on the basis of his intuition. Today these graphs with spin, called "spin networks" have become a common tool to explore the quantum properties of gravity. In this talk Carlo will tell this beautiful story and illustrate the current role of spin networks in the efforts to understand quantum gravity. Carlo Rovelli is a Professor in the Centre de Physique Théorique de Luminy of Aix-Marseille University where he works mainly in the field of quantum gravity and is a founder of loop quantum gravity theory. His popular-science book 'Seven Brief Lesson on Physics' has been translated into 41 languages and has sold over a million copies worldwide. The Oxford Mathematics Public Lectures are generously supported by XTX Markets.
Carlo Rovelli delivers The Roger Penrose Lecture on the Quantum structure of Spacetime. In developing the mathematical description of quantum spacetime, Loop Quantum Gravity stumbled upon a curious mathematical structure: graphs labelled by spins. This turned out to be precisely the structure of quantum space suggested by Roger Penrose two decades earlier, just on the basis of his intuition. Today these graphs with spin, called "spin networks" have become a common tool to explore the quantum properties of gravity. In this talk Carlo will tell this beautiful story and illustrate the current role of spin networks in the efforts to understand quantum gravity. Carlo Rovelli is a Professor in the Centre de Physique Théorique de Luminy of Aix-Marseille University where he works mainly in the field of quantum gravity and is a founder of loop quantum gravity theory. His popular-science book 'Seven Brief Lesson on Physics' has been translated into 41 languages and has sold over a million copies worldwide. The Oxford Mathematics Public Lectures are generously supported by XTX Markets.
From the unfairness of voting on TV shows to how Santa gets down so many narrow chimneys. Chris Budd take a mathematical look at the traditions of Christmas. Oxford Mathematics Public Lectures are generously supported by XTX Markets.
From the unfairness of voting on TV shows to how Santa gets down so many narrow chimneys. Chris Budd take a mathematical look at the traditions of Christmas. Oxford Mathematics Public Lectures are generously supported by XTX Markets.
Via guitars, clarinets and a musical saw to the noise reduction in a vaccum cleaner, Jon Chapman explains the role of waves in the sounds we hear and don't hear. Jon Chapman is Professor of Mathematics and Its Applications in the University of Oxford.
Oxford Mathematics Public Lectures are generously supported by XTX Markets.
Via guitars, clarinets and a musical saw to the noise reduction in a vaccum cleaner, Jon Chapman explains the role of waves in the sounds we hear and don't hear. Jon Chapman is Professor of Mathematics and Its Applications in the University of Oxford.
Oxford Mathematics Public Lectures are generously supported by XTX Markets.
Our latest student lecture is the first in the Quantum Theory course for second year students. Fernando Alday reflects on the breakdown of the deterministic world and describes some of the experiments that defined the new Quantum Reality. This is the sixth lecture in our series of Oxford Mathematics Student Lectures. The lectures aim to throw a light on the student experience and how we teach. All lectures are followed by tutorials where pairs of students spend an hour with their tutor to go through the lectures and accompanying work sheets.
An overview of the course and the relevant materials are available here: https://courses.maths.ox.ac.uk/node/44141
Our latest student lecture is the first in the Quantum Theory course for second year students. Fernando Alday reflects on the breakdown of the deterministic world and describes some of the experiments that defined the new Quantum Reality. This is the sixth lecture in our series of Oxford Mathematics Student Lectures. The lectures aim to throw a light on the student experience and how we teach. All lectures are followed by tutorials where pairs of students spend an hour with their tutor to go through the lectures and accompanying work sheets.
An overview of the course and the relevant materials are available here: https://courses.maths.ox.ac.uk/node/44141
In our Oxford Mathematics London Public Lecture Tim Gowers uses the principle of generalization to show how mathematics progresses in its relentless pursuit of problems. After the lecture in a fascinating Q&A with Hannah Fry, Tim discusses how he approaches problems, both mathematical and personal.
Oxford Mathematics Public Lectures are generously supported by XTX Markets.
In our Oxford Mathematics London Public Lecture Tim Gowers uses the principle of generalization to show how mathematics progresses in its relentless pursuit of problems. After the lecture in a fascinating Q&A with Hannah Fry, Tim discusses how he approaches problems, both mathematical and personal.
Oxford Mathematics Public Lectures are generously supported by XTX Markets.
Mathematics has no place for emotion, its practitioners are positively unemotional. True? Well, no. In fact 10 out of 10 untrue. Mathematics and mathematicians are also on the emotional rollercoaster. Vicky Neale is one of them. The Oxford Mathematics Newcastle Public Lecture was a partnership with Northumbria University and the latest in our series of lectures outside Oxford as we spread the word about mathematics and mathematicians around the UK and beyond.
Oxford Mathematics Public Lectures are generously supported by XTX Markets.
Mathematics has no place for emotion, its practitioners are positively unemotional. True? Well, no. In fact 10 out of 10 untrue. Mathematics and mathematicians are also on the emotional rollercoaster. Vicky Neale is one of them. The Oxford Mathematics Newcastle Public Lecture was a partnership with Northumbria University and the latest in our series of lectures outside Oxford as we spread the word about mathematics and mathematicians around the UK and beyond.
Oxford Mathematics Public Lectures are generously supported by XTX Markets.
We continue with our series of Student Lectures with this first lecture in the 2nd year Course on Differential Equations. Professor Philip Maini begins with a recap of the previous year's work before moving on to give examples of ordinary differential equations which exhibit either unique, non-unique, or no solutions. This leads us to Picard's Existence and Uniqueness Theorem...
This latest student lecture is the fifth in our series shining a light on the student experience in Oxford Mathematics.
The full course overview and materials can be found here: https://courses.maths.ox.ac.uk/node/44002
We continue with our series of Student Lectures with this first lecture in the 2nd year Course on Differential Equations. Professor Philip Maini begins with a recap of the previous year's work before moving on to give examples of ordinary differential equations which exhibit either unique, non-unique, or no solutions. This leads us to Picard's Existence and Uniqueness Theorem...
This latest student lecture is the fifth in our series shining a light on the student experience in Oxford Mathematics.
The full course overview and materials can be found here: https://courses.maths.ox.ac.uk/node/44002
In our latest student lecture we would like to give you a taste of the Oxford Mathematics Student experience as it begins in its very first week. In this lecture in the Introductory Calculus course Dan Ciubotaru summarises how the course works and what we expect the new students to already know in order to ensure all of them are prepared for the more complex work ahead.
An overview of the course and the course materials are here: https://courses.maths.ox.ac.uk/node/43879
In our latest student lecture we would like to give you a taste of the Oxford Mathematics Student experience as it begins in its very first week. In this lecture in the Introductory Calculus course Dan Ciubotaru summarises how the course works and what we expect the new students to already know in order to ensure all of them are prepared for the more complex work ahead.
An overview of the course and the course materials are here: https://courses.maths.ox.ac.uk/node/43879
What do you need to win the Premier League? Money? Sure. Good players? Yup. A great manager? It helps. Mathematics? Really? 100%. Oxford Mathematics Public Lectures are generously supported by XTX Markets.
What do you need to win the Premier League? Money? Sure. Good players? Yup. A great manager? It helps. Mathematics? Really? 100%. Oxford Mathematics Public Lectures are generously supported by XTX Markets.
Our Open Days are intended to give an insight in to Maths at Oxford, whether you are a potential applicant or are just curious. In this talk about the Applied Maths that our undergraduates study at Oxford, Dominic Vella uses everyday examples to explain that Applied Mathematics is about looking afresh at the world around you, looking at scientific problems and using mathematical models to solve them.
In this talk Vicky Neale gives a glimpse of the undergraduate Pure Maths courses through the lens of elliptic curves. Our Open Days are intended to give an insight in to Maths at Oxford, whether you are a potential applicant or are just curious.
In this talk, Admissions Guru James Munro explains how we teach, how you can apply and what your Oxford mathematical life might be like. Our Open Days are intended to give an insight in to Maths at Oxford, whether you are a potential applicant or are just curious.
Our Open Days are intended to give an insight in to Maths at Oxford, whether you are a potential applicant or are just curious. In this talk about the Applied Maths that our undergraduates study at Oxford, Dominic Vella uses everyday examples to explain that Applied Mathematics is about looking afresh at the world around you, looking at scientific problems and using mathematical models to solve them.
In this talk Vicky Neale gives a glimpse of the undergraduate Pure Maths courses through the lens of elliptic curves. Our Open Days are intended to give an insight in to Maths at Oxford, whether you are a potential applicant or are just curious.
In this talk, Admissions Guru James Munro explains how we teach, how you can apply and what your Oxford mathematical life might be like. Our Open Days are intended to give an insight in to Maths at Oxford, whether you are a potential applicant or are just curious.
In this Public Lecture, which contains more technical content than our norm, John Bush presents seemingly disparate topics which are in fact united by a common theme and underlaid by a common mathematical framework. First there is the natural world where creatures use surface tension to support themselves on the water surface and propel themselves along it. Then there is a small droplet bouncing along the surface of a vibrating liquid bath, guided or 'piloted’ by its own wave field - its ability to reproduce many features previously thought to be exclusive to quantum systems has launched the field of hydrodynamic quantum analogs, and motivated a critical revisitation of the philosophical foundations of quantum mechanics.
John Bush is a Professor of Applied Mathematics in the Department of Mathematics at MIT specialising in fluid dynamics.
The Oxford Mathematics Public Lectures are generously supported by XTX Markets.
In this Public Lecture, which contains more technical content than our norm, John Bush presents seemingly disparate topics which are in fact united by a common theme and underlaid by a common mathematical framework. First there is the natural world where creatures use surface tension to support themselves on the water surface and propel themselves along it. Then there is a small droplet bouncing along the surface of a vibrating liquid bath, guided or 'piloted’ by its own wave field - its ability to reproduce many features previously thought to be exclusive to quantum systems has launched the field of hydrodynamic quantum analogs, and motivated a critical revisitation of the philosophical foundations of quantum mechanics.
John Bush is a Professor of Applied Mathematics in the Department of Mathematics at MIT specialising in fluid dynamics.
The Oxford Mathematics Public Lectures are generously supported by XTX Markets.
In this fascinating and provocative lecture, Marcus du Sautoy both tests our ability to distinguish between human and machine creativity, and suggests that our creativity may even benefit from that of the machines. The Oxford Mathematics Public Lectures are generously supported by XTX Markets.
In this fascinating and provocative lecture, Marcus du Sautoy both tests our ability to distinguish between human and machine creativity, and suggests that our creativity may even benefit from that of the machines. The Oxford Mathematics Public Lectures are generously supported by XTX Markets.
An old-fashioned tale of tale of romance and estrangement, of hope and despair. Graham Farmelo's Oxford Mathematics Public Lecture charts the 350 year relationship between Mathematics and Physics and its prospects for the future. Might things be less dramatic in future? Might they just have to be 'going steady' for a while?
Oxford Mathematics Public Lectures are generously supported by XTX Markets.
An old-fashioned tale of tale of romance and estrangement, of hope and despair. Graham Farmelo's Oxford Mathematics Public Lecture charts the 350 year relationship between Mathematics and Physics and its prospects for the future. Might things be less dramatic in future? Might they just have to be 'going steady' for a while?
Oxford Mathematics Public Lectures are generously supported by XTX Markets.
The third in our popular series of filmed student lectures takes us to Integration. This is the opening lecture in the 1st Year course. Ben Green both links the course to the mathematics our students have already learnt at school and develops that knowledge, taking the students to the next stage. Like all good lectures it recaps and points forward.
The third in our popular series of filmed student lectures takes us to Integration. This is the opening lecture in the 1st Year course. Ben Green both links the course to the mathematics our students have already learnt at school and develops that knowledge, taking the students to the next stage. Like all good lectures it recaps and points forward.
Knots are a familiar part of everyday life, for example tying your tie or doing up your shoe laces. They play a role in numerous physical and biological phenomena, such as the untangling of DNA when it replicates. However, knot theory is also a well-developed branch of pure mathematics.
In his talk, Marc gives an introduction to this theory and places it in the context of the modern field of topology. This is the branch of mathematics where you are allowed to stretch and deform objects, but not tear them. He explains how topological techniques can be used to prove some surprising facts about knots. He also gives some problems about knots that mathematicians haven't yet been able to solve.
Marc Lackenby is a Professor of Mathematics in Oxford and a Fellow of St Catherine's College.
The Oxford Mathematics Public Lectures are generously supported by XTX Markets.
Knots are a familiar part of everyday life, for example tying your tie or doing up your shoe laces. They play a role in numerous physical and biological phenomena, such as the untangling of DNA when it replicates. However, knot theory is also a well-developed branch of pure mathematics.
In his talk, Marc gives an introduction to this theory and places it in the context of the modern field of topology. This is the branch of mathematics where you are allowed to stretch and deform objects, but not tear them. He explains how topological techniques can be used to prove some surprising facts about knots. He also gives some problems about knots that mathematicians haven't yet been able to solve.
Marc Lackenby is a Professor of Mathematics in Oxford and a Fellow of St Catherine's College.
The Oxford Mathematics Public Lectures are generously supported by XTX Markets.
The Oxford Mathematics educational experience is a journey, a journey like any other educational experience. It builds on what you learn at school. It is not unfamiliar and we don't want it too invisible. But it has aspects that are different.
One of these is the tutorial system. Students have lectures. But they also have tutorials based on those lectures where they sit, usually in pairs, with a tutor, go through their work and, critically, get to ask questions. It is their tutorial.
Having streamed the Dynamics lecture (also on this site), we now present the tutorial as it happened.
The Oxford Mathematics educational experience is a journey, a journey like any other educational experience. It builds on what you learn at school. It is not unfamiliar and we don't want it too invisible. But it has aspects that are different.
One of these is the tutorial system. Students have lectures. But they also have tutorials based on those lectures where they sit, usually in pairs, with a tutor, go through their work and, critically, get to ask questions. It is their tutorial.
Having streamed the Dynamics lecture (also on this site), we now present the tutorial as it happened.
For the first time ever, Oxford Mathematics has live streamed a student lecture. It took 800 years but now you can see what it is really like. We hope you find it familiar and intriguing and challenging. James Sparks is Professor of Mathematical Physics and Director of Graduate Studies (Research).
For the first time ever, Oxford Mathematics has live streamed a student lecture. It took 800 years but now you can see what it is really like. We hope you find it familiar and intriguing and challenging. James Sparks is Professor of Mathematical Physics and Director of Graduate Studies (Research).
Prime Numbers are fascinating, crucial and ubiquitous. The trouble is, we don't know that much about them. James Maynard, one of the leading researchers in the field explains all (at least as far as he can). Oxford Research Professor James Maynard is one of the brightest young stars in world mathematics at the moment, having made dramatic advances in analytic number theory in recent years.
The Oxford Mathematics Public Lectures are generously supported by XTX Markets.
Prime Numbers are fascinating, crucial and ubiquitous. The trouble is, we don't know that much about them. James Maynard, one of the leading researchers in the field explains all (at least as far as he can). Oxford Research Professor James Maynard is one of the brightest young stars in world mathematics at the moment, having made dramatic advances in analytic number theory in recent years.
The Oxford Mathematics Public Lectures are generously supported by XTX Markets.
In some of the world’s rivers, an incoming high tide can arrive as a smooth jump decorated by undulations, or as a breaking wave. The river reverses direction and flows upstream. In this lecture Michael Berry explains tidal bores via analogies with tsunamis, rainbows, horizons in relativity, and ideas from quantum physics; the concept of a ‘minimal model’ in mathematical explanation; different ways in which different cultures describe the same thing; and the first unification in fundamental physics. Michael Berry is Emeritus Professor of Physics, H H Wills Physics Laboratory, University of Bristol.
In some of the world’s rivers, an incoming high tide can arrive as a smooth jump decorated by undulations, or as a breaking wave. The river reverses direction and flows upstream. In this lecture Michael Berry explains tidal bores via analogies with tsunamis, rainbows, horizons in relativity, and ideas from quantum physics; the concept of a ‘minimal model’ in mathematical explanation; different ways in which different cultures describe the same thing; and the first unification in fundamental physics. Michael Berry is Emeritus Professor of Physics, H H Wills Physics Laboratory, University of Bristol.
Much is written about life as an undergraduate at Oxford but what is it really like? As Oxford Mathematics's new first-year students arrive (273 of them, comprising 33 nationalities) we thought we would take the opportunity to go behind the scenes and share some of their experiences.
Our starting point is a first week lecture. In this case the second lecture from 'An Introduction to Complex Numbers' by Dr. Vicky Neale. Whether you are a past student, an aspiring student or just curious as to how teaching works, come and take a seat.
Much is written about life as an undergraduate at Oxford but what is it really like? As Oxford Mathematics's new first-year students arrive (273 of them, comprising 33 nationalities) we thought we would take the opportunity to go behind the scenes and share some of their experiences.
Our starting point is a first week lecture. In this case the second lecture from 'An Introduction to Complex Numbers' by Dr. Vicky Neale. Whether you are a past student, an aspiring student or just curious as to how teaching works, come and take a seat.
With topics ranging from prime numbers to the lottery, from lemmings to bending balls like Beckham, Professor Marcus du Sautoy provides an entertaining and, perhaps, unexpected approach to explain how mathematics can be used to predict the future. We are very grateful to Solihull School for hosting this lecture.
The Oxford Mathematics Public Lectures are generously supported by XTX Markets
With topics ranging from prime numbers to the lottery, from lemmings to bending balls like Beckham, Professor Marcus du Sautoy provides an entertaining and, perhaps, unexpected approach to explain how mathematics can be used to predict the future. We are very grateful to Solihull School for hosting this lecture.
The Oxford Mathematics Public Lectures are generously supported by XTX Markets
Marcus du Sautoy and Professor Rosalind Picard for 2018's annual Simonyi Lecture: Can we build AI with Emotional Intelligence? Today’s AI can play games, drive cars, even do our jobs for us. But surely our human emotional world is beyond the limits of what AI can achieve? In this year’s Annual Charles Simonyi Lecture, Professor Rosalind Picard challenges that belief. Robots, wearables, and other AI technologies are gaining the ability to sense, recognize, and respond intelligently to human emotion. This talk will highlight several important findings made at MIT, including surprises about the 'true smile of happiness,' and finding electrical signals on the wrist that reveal insight into deep brain activity, with implications for autism, anxiety, epilepsy, mood disorders, and more.
Rosalind Picard is founder and director of the Affective Computing Research Group at the MIT Media Laboratory, faculty chair of MindHandHeart, and cofounder of Affectiva and cofounder and chief scientist of Empatica. Picard is the author of 300 peer-reviewed scientific articles, and known internationally for her book Affective Computing, which is credited for launching the field by that name. Picard is an active inventor with over a dozen patents and her lab's achievements have been profiled worldwide including in Wired, New Scientist and on the BBC.
In our Oxford Mathematics London Public Lecture Roger Penrose in conversation with Hannah Fry reveals his latest research, a veritable chain reaction of universes, which he says has been backed by evidence of events that took place before the Big Bang. With Conformal Cyclic Cosmology he argues that, instead of a single Big Bang, the universe cycles from one aeon to the next. Each universe leaves subtle imprints on the next when it pops into being. Energy can 'burst through' from one universe to the next, at what he calls ‘Hawking points.’
The Oxford Mathematics Public Lectures are generously supported by XTX Markets.
In this lecture Roger Penrose uses M.C Escher's work to illustrate and explain important mathematical ideas and their connections to the visual arts. Roger Penrose's work has ranged across many aspects of mathematics and its applications from his influential work on gravitational collapse to his work on quantum gravity. However, Roger has long had an interest in and influence on the visual arts and their connections to mathematics, most notably in his collaboration with Dutch graphic artist M.C. Escher. Oxford Mathematics hosted this special event in its Public Lecture series during the conference to celebrate the 20th Anniversary of the foundation of the Clay Mathematics Institute. After the lecture Roger was presented with the Clay Award for the Dissemination of Mathematical Knowledge. The Oxford Mathematics Public Lectures are generously supported by XTX Markets.
John Ball is retiring as Sedleian Professor of Natural Philosophy, Oxford oldest Scientific Chair. In this interview he charts the journey of the Applied Mathematician.as the subject has developed over the last 50 years. Describing his struggles with exams and his time at Cambridge, Sussex and Heriot-Watt before coming to Oxford in 1996, John reflects on walking round St Petersburg with Perelman, his views on how to choose and pursue your research, his work at the International Mathematical Union and in Nepal and the vital importance of family (and football).
The World population is growing at about 80 million per year. As time goes by, there is necessarily less space per person. Perhaps this is why the scientific community seems to be obsessed with folding things. In this lecture Dick James presents a mathematical approach to “rigid folding” inspired by the way atomistic structures form naturally - their features at a molecular level imply desirable features for macroscopic structures as well, especially 4D structures. Origami structures even suggest an unusual way to look at the Periodic Table.
Richard D. James is Distinguished McKnight University Professor the University of Minnesota.
The Oxford Mathematics Public Lectures are generously supported by XTX Markets.
Archimedes, who famously jumped out of his bath shouting "Eureka", also 'invented' the number pi. Euler invented e and had fun with his formula e^(2 pi i) = 1. The world is full of important numbers waiting to be invented. Why not have a go? Michael Atiyah is one of the world's leading mathematicians and a pivotal figure in twentieth and twenty-first century mathematics. His lecture is followed by an interview with Sir John Ball, Sedleian Professor of Natural Philosophy here in Oxford, where Michael talks about his lecture, his work and his life as a mathematician.
The Oxford Mathematics Public Lectures are generously supported by XTX Markets.
The human brain is the object of the ultimate intellectual egocentrism. It is also a source of endless scientific problems and an organ of such complexity that it is not clear that a mathematical approach is even possible, despite many attempts. In this talk Alain will use the brain to showcase how applied mathematics thrives on such challenges. Through mathematical modelling, we will see how we can gain insight into how the brain acquires its convoluted shape and what happens during trauma. We will also consider the dramatic but fascinating progression of neuro-degenerative diseases, and, eventually, hope to learn a bit about who we are before it is too late.
Alain Goriely is Professor of Mathematical Modelling, University of Oxford and author of 'Applied Mathematics: A Very Short Introduction.'
Euler’s equation, the ‘most beautiful equation in mathematics’, startlingly connects the five most important constants in the subject: 1, 0, π, e and i. Central to both mathematics and physics. So what is this equation – and why is it pioneering? Robin Wilson is an Emeritus Professor of Pure Mathematics at the Open University, Emeritus Professor of Geometry at Gresham College, London, and a former Fellow of Keble College, Oxford.
Michael Bonsall explores how we can use mathematics to link between scales of organisation in biology, delving in to developmental biology, ecology and neurosciences. The lecture is illustrated and explored with real life examples, simple games and, of course, some neat maths. Michael Bonsall is Professor of Mathematical Biology in Oxford.
In our Oxford Mathematics Christmas Lecture Alex Bellos challenges you with some festive brainteasers as he tells the story of mathematical puzzles from the middle ages to modern day. Alex is the Guardian’s puzzle blogger as well as the author of several works of popular maths, including Puzzle Ninja, Can You Solve My Problems? and Alex’s Adventures in Numberland.
In the first Oxford Mathematics London Public Lecture, in partnership with the Science Museum, world-renowned mathematician Andrew Wiles lectured on his current work around Elliptic Curves followed by conversation with Hannah Fry. In a fascinating interview Andrew talked about his own motivations, his belief in the importance of struggle and resilience and his recipe for the better teaching of his subject, a subject he clearly loves deeply.
Allan McRobie explains how the key to understanding the language of curves is Rene Thom’s Catastrophe Theory, and how remarkably the best place to learn that language is perhaps in the life drawing class. There is a deep connection between the stability of oil rigs, the bending of light during gravitational lensing and the act of life drawing. To understand each, we must understand how we view curved surfaces. We are familiar with the language of straight-line geometry -- of squares, rectangles, hexagons. But curves also have a language -- of folds, cusps and swallowtails that few of us know.
Sharing its title with Allan's new book, the talk will wander gently across mathematics, physics, engineering, biology and art, but always with a focus on curves.
Warning: this talk contains nudity.
Allan McRobie is Reader in Engineering, University of Cambridge
Can mathematics really help us in our fight against infectious disease? Join Julia Gog as we explore exciting current research areas where mathematics is being used to study pandemics, viruses and everything in between. Julia Gog is Professor of Mathematical Biology, University of Cambridge and David N Moore Fellow at Queens’ College, Cambridge.
Prime numbers have intrigued, inspired and infuriated mathematicians for millennia and yet mathematicians' difficulty with answering simple questions about them reveals their depth and subtlety. Join Vicky to learn about recent progress towards proving the famous Twin Primes Conjecture and to hear the very different ways in which these breakthroughs have been made - a solo mathematician working in isolation, a young mathematician displaying creativity at the start of a career, a large collaboration that reveals much about how mathematicians go about their work.
Her new book "Closing the Gap: the quest to understand prime numbers" has recently been published by Oxford University Press.
Vicky Neale is Whitehead Lecturer at the Mathematical Institute, University of Oxford and Supernumerary Fellow at Balliol College
The study of networks offers a fruitful approach to understanding human behaviour. Sanjeev Goyal is one of its pioneers. In this lecture Sanjeev presents a puzzle: In social communities, the vast majority of individuals get their information from a very small subset of the group -- the influencers, connectors, and opinion leaders. But empirical research suggests that there are only minor differences between the influencers and the others. Using mathematical modelling of individual activity and networking and experiments with human subjects, Sanjeev helps explain the puzzle and the economic trade-offs it contains.
Professor Sanjeev Goyal FBA is the Chair of the Economics Faculty at the University of Cambridge and was the founding Director of the Cambridge-INET Institute.
Symmetry has played a role both for composers and in the creation of musical instruments. Marcus shows how composers have used this symmetry and demonstrates how Ernst Chladni revealed extraordinary symmetrical shapes in the vibrations of a metal Plate.
Marcus du Sautoy is Charles Simonyi Professor for the Public Understanding of Science at Oxford University.
Tim Palmer discusses Ed Lorenz the man and his work, and compares and contrasts the meaning of the 'Butterfly Effect' as most people understand it today, and as Lorenz himself intended it to mean. Meteorologist Ed Lorenz was one of the founding fathers of chaos theory. In 1963 he showed with just three simple equations that the world around us could be both completely deterministic and yet practically unpredictable. In the 1990s, Lorenz's work was popularised by science writer James Gleick who used the phrase "The Butterfly Effect" to describe Lorenz's work. The notion that the flap of a butterfly's wings could change the course of weather was an idea that Lorenz himself used. However, he used it to describe something much more radical -- he didn't know whether the Butterfly Effect was true or not.
Tim Palmer is Royal Society Research Professor in Climate Physics at the University of Oxford.
Tim Harford, Financial Times columnist and presenter of Radio 4's "More or Less", argues that politicians, businesses and even charities have been poisoning the value of statistics and data. From the tobacco companies in the fifties to the arguments of the Brexit campaign, Tim Harford takes us on a tour of truths, facts and the weapon that is doubt. Surely fact-checking websites and rational thinking are the best weapons to convince people of the truth? Or is in fact the truth simply not good enough. Do we have time or any inclination to hear it? Maybe we need to start with something simpler. Perhaps arousing people's curiosity might be just as important.
Watch Tim make his case in the latest of the successful Oxford Mathematics Public Lecture series.
Puzzling things happen in human perception when ambiguous or incomplete information is presented to the eyes. In this lecture Ian Stewart demonstrates how these phenomena provide clues about the workings of the visual system. For example, illusions, or multistable figures occur when a single image can be perceived in several ways. In this talk Ian references recent research which has modelled simplified, systematic methods by which the brain can make decisions.
Ian Stewart is Emeritus Professor of Mathematics in the University of Warwick.
We are getting better at predicting things about our environment - the impact of climate change for example. But what about predicting our collective effect on ourselves? We can predict the small things, but we fail miserably when it comes to many of the big things. The financial crisis cost the world trillions, yet our ability to forecast and mitigate the next economic crisis is very low. Is this inherently impossible? Or perhaps we are just not going about it the right way?
The complex systems approach to economics, which brings in insights from the physical and natural sciences, presents an alternative to standard methods. Doyne will explain this new approach and give examples of its successes. He will present a vision of the economics of the future as it confronts the serious problems that our world will face.
J. Doyne Farmer is Director of the Complexity Economics program at the Institute for New Economic Thinking at the Oxford Martin School and Professor in the Mathematical Institute at the University of Oxford
Simon Baron-Cohen, Professor of Developmental Psychopathology, Cambridge, and Director of the Autism Research Centre, gives the 2016 Charles Simonyi Lecture on new research into autism.
From early mathematical inspiration at school in Duffield, Derbyshire, Nigel recalls his often unplanned progress via Jesus College, Oxford, Princeton, Cambridge and Warwick, before his final return to Oxford. Along the way such luminaries as Michael Atiyah and Simon Donaldson play their part as Nigel talks about time spent with physicists in Cambridge, the Eureka moments when the answers take shape, to his final reflections on a career where the name Hitchin is attached to so many of the tools of modern geometry and which culminated in the award of the 2016 Shaw Prize.
What can fashionable ideas, blind faith, or pure fantasy have to do with the scientific quest to understand the universe? Surely, scientists are immune to trends, dogmatic beliefs, or flights of fancy? In this lecture, based on his new book, Roger will argue that fashion, faith, and fantasy, while sometimes productive and even essential, may be leading today's researchers astray, most notably in three of science's most important areas - string theory, quantum mechanics, and cosmology. Yet Roger will also describe how fashion, faith, and fantasy have, ironically, also been invaluable in shaping his own work.
Roger Heath-Brown is one of Oxford's foremost mathematicians. In this interview with fellow Oxford Mathematician Ben Green, Roger reflects on his influences, his achievements and the pleasures that the subject of mathematics has given him.
Roger Heath-Brown's work in analytic number theory has been critical to the advances in the subject over the past thirty years and garnered Roger many prizes. On the eve of his retirement Roger spoke to Ben Green, Waynflete Professor of Mathematics in Oxford and himself a leading figure in the field of number theory.
In this lecture Professor Alison Etheridge explores some of the simple mathematical caricatures that underpin our understanding of modern genetic data. How can we explain the patterns of genetic variation in the world around us? The genetic composition of a population can be changed by natural selection, mutation, mating, and other genetic, ecological and evolutionary mechanisms. How do they interact with one another, and what was their relative importance in shaping the patterns we see today?
Oxford Students discuss the Prime Number Theorem. Prime numbers have fascinated mathematicians since there were mathematicians to be fascinated, and The Prime Number Theorem is one of the crowning achievements of 19th century mathematics. The theorem answers, in a precise form, a very basic and naive-sounding question: how many prime numbers are there? Proved in 1896, the theorem marked the culmination of a century of mathematical progress, and is also at the heart of one of the biggest unsolved problems in mathematics today.
Host: Aled Walker, 2nd year DPhil, Mathematics, Magdalen College Guests: Simon Myerson, 4th year DPhil, Mathematics, Oriel College: Sofia Lindqvist, 1st year DPhil, Mathematics, Keble College, Jamie Beacom, 1st year DPhil, Mathematics, Balliol College.
Science is giving us unprecedented insight into the big questions that have challenged humanity. Where did we come from? What is the ultimate destiny of the universe? What are the building blocks of the physical world? What is consciousness?
'What We Cannot Know' asks us to rein in this unbridled enthusiasm for the power of science. Are there limits to what we can discover about our physical universe? Are some regions of the future beyond the predictive powers of science and mathematics? Are there ideas so complex that they are beyond the conception of our finite human brains? Can brains even investigate themselves or does the analysis enter an infinite loop from which it is impossible to rescue itself?
To coincide with the launch of his new book of the same title, Marcus du Sautoy will be answering (or not answering) those questions
The Oxford Mathematics Christmas Public Lecture 2015 examined an aspect of Christmas not often considered: the mathematics. Delivered by Marcus du Sautoy, Simonyi Professor for the Public Understanding of Science. The Oxford Mathematics Christmas Lecture is generously sponsored by G-Research - Researching investment ideas to predict financial markets.
The understanding of the possible geometries in dimension 3 is one of the triumphs of 20th century mathematics. In this talk Martin Bridson explains why such an understanding is impossible in higher dimensions. When one wants to describe the symmetries of any object or system, in mathematics or everyday life, the right language to use is group theory. How might one go about understanding the universe of all groups and what kinds of novel geometry might emerge as we explore this universe?
Martin Bridson became Head of the Mathematical Institute on 01 October 2015. To mark the occasion he gave this Inaugural Chairman's Public Lecture.
Professor Melissa Franklin talks about her experiences working towards the discovery of the Higgs Boson and her work today at the Large Hadron Collider This entertaining lecture by experimental particle physicist, Professor Melissa Franklin (the first woman to achieve tenure in the Harvard Physics Department), is the latest in the Charles Simonyi annual lecture series. This series was set up in 1999 in order to promote the public understanding of Science
M.C. Escher is known as the mathematician's (and hippie's) favourite artist. But why? And was Escher, a man who claimed he knew no mathematics, really a mathematical genius? In this lecture Roger Penrose and Jon Chapman not only show why Escher has won the artistic and mathematical hearts of mathematicians, but also why his art is inspiring both artists and mathematicians today, as captured in Jon's brilliant updating of Escher's 'Picture Gallery' to the new mathematics building in Oxford.
Please note the BBC film is not available on this film.
Gabor Domokos gives a talk on his mathematical journey that led to the creation of the Gomboc, the shape which has just one stable and one unstable point of equilibrium. In 1995, Russian mathematician V.I. Arnold conjectured that convex, homogeneous solids with just two static balance points (weebles without a bottom weight) may exist. Ten years later the first Gomboc was built. Gabor Domokos, will describe his own part in the journey of discovery, the mathematics behind that journey and the curious relationship between the Gomboc and the turtle. He will also discuss Arnold's second major conjecture: the Gomboc in nature is not the origin, but the ultimate goal of shape evolution.
What goes on inside the mind of a mathematician? Where does inspiration come from? Cedric Villani, winner of the most prestigious prize in mathematics, the Fields Medal, explains the process. Inaugural Titchmarsh Lecture 2015.
2014 Charles Simonyi Lecture with David MacKay. David discusses how the laws of physics constrain our energy options, and describes what happened when his reflections on energy arithmetic propelled him into a senior civil service role.
World-renowned mathematician Sir Roger Penrose, Oxford University, describes how crystalline symmetries are necessarily 2-fold, 3-fold, 4-fold, or 6-fold.
How has mathematics emerged over recent decades as the engine behind 21st century science? Alain Goriely looks at this question and more.
The entire history of mathematics in one hour, as illustrated by around 300 postage stamps featuring mathematics and mathematicians from across the world. From Euclid to Euler, from Pythagoras to Poincare, and from Fibonacci to the Fields Medals, all are featured in attractive, charming and sometimes bizarre stamps. No knowledge of mathematics or philately required.
Big Data promises to change all sectors of our economy, and deeply affect our society. But beyond the current hype, what are Big Data's salient qualities, and do they warrant the high hopes? These are some of the questions that this talk addresses.
These two video sessions explore the development of Sir Roger Penrose's thought over more than 60 years, ending with his most recent theories and predictions. In the first session, Roger Penrose explains the impact of his time at Cambridge in the 1950s. The interview brings out his highly unconventional choice of subjects for deep study, which completely ignored the boundary between 'pure' and 'applied' mathematics. Those familiar with his world-leading development of relativity theory in the 1960s may be surprised to learn how much he was influenced by quantum theory in the 1950s, and also by the early origin of his new ideas.
Roger Penrose explains the influence of Dirac, Sciama and other leading figures of the 1950s, and goes on to characterise the emergence of twistor theory. Non-experts will be interested to hear how the ideas of his best-known work, The Emperor's New Mind, also had an origin in this early period. Roger Penrose also adds fascinating detail about the psychology of mathematical discovery, explaining how he was very slow at school, needing extra time to think issues through for himself. The mystery of time, in physics and human consciousness, runs through the entire conversation, and lights up even the most technical aspects of the discussion.
These two video sessions explore the development of Sir Roger Penrose’s thought over more than 60 years, ending with his most recent theories and predictions. In the second session, the emphasis shifts to the recent developments in Roger Penrose's thought. He gives a very clear outline of his argument for Conformal Cyclic Cosmology as the correct description of the Big Bang. However, the conversation turns once again to the precursors of these ideas in the 1950s, with new anecdotes about Dirac and the origin of Roger Penrose’s geometrical innovations. Bringing the discussion up to the present moment, Roger Penrose describes the impact of recent observations of primordial magnetic fields and also addresses the significance of his own predictions for the form of dark matter.
In a closing segment, the discussion turns to the current discoveries in neurology and biophysics relevant to Roger Penrose’s theory of microtubules as advanced in Shadows of the Mind. The discussion ends tantalisingly with renewed speculation on the foundations of quantum mechanics and its relation to general relativity. Non-experts will relish Sir Roger Penrose’s comment that 'To me eternity is not such a long time'.
In conversation with Paul Tod on the occasion of Sir Michael's 85th birthday conference. A portrait of the contribution that Sir Michael Atiyah has made to mathematics over his career together with his recollections of formative people and events. Interview by Professor Paul Tod.
Jim Murray is one of the leading mathematical biologists of our times. In this wide-ranging interview Jim talks about his career, the range of his work, his successes and failures and his hopes and expectations for the future of mathematical biology.
Professor James D Murray, Professor Emeritus of Mathematical Biology, University of Oxford and Senior Scholar, Applied and Computational Mathematics, Princeton University, gives the annual Hooke Lecture. Understanding the generation and control of pattern and form is still a challenging and major problem in the biomedical sciences. I shall describe three very different problems.
First I shall briefly describe the development and application of the mechanical theory of morphogenesis and the discovery of morphogenetic laws in limb development and how it was used to move evolution backwards. I shall then describe a surprisingly informative model, now used clinically, for quantifying the growth of brain tumours, enhancing imaging techniques and quantifying individual patient treatment protocols prior to their use. Among other things, it is used to estimate patient life expectancy and explain why some patients live longer than others with the same treatment protocols.
Finally I shall describe an example from the social sciences which quantifies marital interaction that is used to predict marital stability and divorce. From a large study of newly married couples it had a 94 percent accuracy. I shall show how it has helped design a new scientific marital therapy which is currently used in clinical practice.
A portrait of the contribution that Bryce McLeod has made to mathematics over his career together with his recollections of formative people and events. Interview by Professor Sir John Ball FRS, FRSE , Sedleian Professor of Natural Philosophy.
Professor Gui-Qiang G. Chen presents in his inaugural lecture several examples to illustrate the origins, developments, and roles of partial differential equations in our changing world. While calculus is a mathematical theory concerned with change, differential equations are the mathematician's foremost aid for describing change. In the simplest case, a process depends on one variable alone, for example time. More complex phenomena depend on several variables - perhaps time and, in addition, one, two or three space variables. Such processes require the use of partial differential equations. The behaviour of every material object in nature, with timescales ranging from picoseconds to millennia and length scales ranging from sub-atomic to astronomical, can be modeled by nonlinear partial differential equations or by equations with similar features. The roles of partial differential equations within mathematics and in the other sciences become increasingly significant. The mathematical theory of partial differential equations has a long history. In the recent decades, the subject has experienced a vigorous growth, and research is marching on at a brisk pace.
Dr Richard Earl of the Mathematical Institute, Oxford presents a talk about prime numbers. What they are and their role in internet security.
Stephen Wolfram, creator of Mathematica and Wolfram Alpha, gives a talk about the future of mathematics and computation.
Professor Marcus du Sautoy (New College), Charles Simonyi Chair in the Public Understanding of Science, author and broadcaster gives a talk about how much we can understand of the world through maths
Professor Marcus du Sautoy (New College), Charles Simonyi Chair in the Public Understanding of Science, author and broadcaster gives a talk about the connections beween art and mathematics
Professor Marcus du Sautoy (New College), Charles Simonyi Chair in the Public Understanding of Science, author and broadcaster gives a talk about symmetry and how the rules of symmetry influences our lives and the choices we make.
Professor Marcus du Sautoy (New College), Charles Simonyi Chair in the Public Understanding of Science, author and broadcaster gives a talk on 5th September 2013.
Professor Marcus du Sautoy (New College), Charles Simonyi Chair in the Public Understanding of Science, author and broadcaster gives a talk for the 2013 Oxford Alumni Weekend. From composers to painters, writers to choreographers, the mathematician's palette of shapes, patterns and numbers has proved a powerful inspiration. Often subconsciously artists are drawn to the same structures that fascinate mathematicians, as they constantly hunt for interesting new structures to frame their creative process. Through the work of artists like Borges and Dali, Messiaen and Laban, Professor du Sautoy will explore the hidden mathematical ideas that underpin their creative output and reveal that the work of the mathematician is also driven by strong aesthetic values.