/sci/ - Science & Math

inb4 > a undergrad

You cunts.

> a undergrad

>>2872871

when will you satisfy your english reqs?

Any tips/advice to someone studying gr 11 & 12 math right now to get into uni?

>>2872903

Taking a poetry class next semester (fall of senior year) to finish that shit up. I figure it'll either be a really cool, fun experience with something I'd never touch any other time of my life, or a miserable shithole.

What university you attend?

>>2872914

Having something other than academic is important. I'm just at some state school, and the people who run the school just fucking love community service, global perspectives, and a host of other shit that has nothing to do with what you actually want to do in school. So join/start some clubs, feed hungry children, and bullshit your acceptance essays as hard as you can stand.

As far as academics, perfection will get you into the very best schools (along with extra crap), but you can get into respectable schools with good test scores and GPAs.

Analysis or Abstract Algebra?

>>2872933
masochism or sadism

>>2872923

Eh. I'll just say that I attend a public school. That whittles the options down a bit.

>>2872933

Tough question, but I'll have to go with analysis, if only because I have much more familiarity with it. Very pretty things are tied to algebra, but I just don't haven't care much about it.

why do you think you're special enough to do an AMA?

What do you think of people being perfectionists on this board?

I'm a math major at Berkeley. How jelly are you?

can you get any job you want/

How did you do on the Putnam?

>>2872962
>$300,000
>yo

>>2872954

I think that perfectionism causes a ton of undue stress in someone and that, in the end, nobody really gives a shit anyway.

>>2872961

500k starting, right? But really, I have no knowledge of the workforce and intend to stay snugly embedded in academia until I'm kicked out due to sucking at everything.

>>2872962

That depends. How are your lecturers? Anyone famous/awesome?

>>2872968

Heh. Not as well as I'd hoped. Only 29 points. I think my rank was a little higher last year, but I don't actually remember.

>>2872987

29 isn't bad, all things considered

you didn't answer my question

>>2872997
Considering that he's lying? Yeah, not bad.

>>2872997

Eh. This year's test was way easier than previous ones. I made at least one one-liner mistake, one of those awful things you realize you'd forgotten the second the test was over, and so based on how stingy those guys are with partial credit, I might not have gotten any points at all on that guy.

>>2872953
>>2873002

I'll assume you're the same person. I'm... not sure what an AMA even is?

>>2873008

If I were going to lie, I would at least aim for the top 10%. C'mon...

>>2873017
Ask Me Anything

>>2872871
Is the real part of every non-trivial zero of the Riemann Zeta function 1/2?

Can you teach me proof by induction in one post?

>>2873044

Ah... well, I'm really not. :\

>>2873051

If I knew the answer to that and had a proof, do you really think I'd be posting here? :P

>>2873055

Eh, it's a pretty natural concept. It's sort of like stepping up a ladder. If you can get to the bottom rung, and can step up from your current rung, you can get to any rung on the ladder. So if your statement P(n) holds for n=1 and you can show that P(n) holding implies P(n+1) holds, then P(1) holds, so P(1+1) = P(2) holds, so P(2+1) = P(3) holds, and so on...

Of course, you don't have to start with n=1 and there are other variants, but that's the basic idea.

use Newton's method to find the absolute maximum value of the function: f(x) = cosx + x - x^2 to eight decimal places... show major steps/concepts.

>>2873069
Awww. I was in need of some money and thought maybe you'd tell me so I could claim that prize.

>>2873083

Icky applied math! I forgot so much of what I learned in that joke of an applied course. All I can remember is that there was a nice recursive formula that took the linearization of the function at a point you guess is near the real zero, and uses that to compute another, better guess. You then feed that back in and keep getting better results. Yay, recursion.

There were also some cases where you don't get convergence. And like hell am I going to actually churn out that calculation. Take your derivatives, check concavity and boundary conditions, and hand that shit to the computer.

>>2873083
>>2873083

x = 0.33541803238494005945786241174925483971185131510063086502334580569977079699348886732682329780509965
5941760946007417735305449140296885174971232582467743747678177252026007266159998095

y = 1.16718556689406691622663917226513226929237848319766005236354812957532914000752154951310926237985581
590212201062659034501037312364923027765183700865021339544511971052964641686653641065525

I'm a freshman who's in no math classes this semester due to bullshit GE requirements, but last semester I took calc 3. I got a B-, mostly because I stopped going to lecture because my professor was fresh out of China and I couldn't understand him when I did go. However, I also had a hard time dealing with some of the advanced calc 3 shit, mostly the applications of differential equations and line integrals (still don't know what a line integral actually is). I was the top math student in my class in high school, but I still got raped by IB HL math and barely got a 4.

Basically, I just gave you too much information, but I want to know if you think I'll be able to deal with upper-level math classes despite my issues in calc 3 or if I should just switch to a liberal arts degree and save myself the pain.

>>2873108
What branch of math are you interested?

>>2873103

I wouldn't give it up just yet. My calculus III experience left me equally bewildered about basic concepts, and those freshman/sophomore classes can be made so mechanical and repetitive that there's hardly any real math left. My suggestion to see how well you'll handle upper level math classes is to hunt down a course with a title like "intro to abstract math", "intro to proof writing", or the like. If there's nothing like that at your school, I'd suggest some sort of abstract algebra course to get your feet wet. Or... you could talk with some faculty. They may or may not be helpful. As far as the IB, I'm an Americunt who doesn't know much about it or what it covers

.>>2873104

This man keeps his python scripts at the ready.

>>2873113

I say icky applied math, but I do like PDEs as they apply to physics and engineering. I imagine I'll have to go back and take some better numerical analysis courses one day. On the theoretical side, topology, geometry, manifolds, and complex analysis are all pretty cool. Keep in mind that what I like is heavily, heavily influenced by what classes I'm currently taking, heh. 'cept for algebra. I generally think algebra is lame.

And I've always thought about getting some stats or financial stuff in my head so I can take a crack at Wall Street if grad school goes south. Hopefully, that won't happen!

Second year mathfag here. Are you doing any research as an undergrad? The program and school I'm at strongly suggest it, but the closer I get to being an upperclassman, the more and more I realize that I have no idea how to go about it. I don't stand out much, so I don't really know any professors at my university. Hell, I'm not really even sure what I'm particularly interested in. I just feel like I'm supposed to be doing it.

>>2873104
>>2873123

shit's right too, heh

OP, what math class were you in your last sophomore semester?

>>2873123

fortran :] its derpy but fun to code.

>>2873139

Yep, I did a little project at my school last year and will be flying across the country to do another project this summer. If you're a US citizen, then check out this page:

http://www.nsf.gov/crssprgm/reu/list_result.cfm?unitid=5044

It's a list of schools that offer summer research programs for mathematics. I highly, highly doubt you'll be able to find one this summer, since most of the deadlines were in mid-Februrary. I think the latest one was April 1st. If you're truly desperate, you might be able to e-mail some programs and ask around. Keep in mind that you won't necessarily need really advanced classes to participate, some have modest requirements and will teach you there.

If you aren't a US citizen, I'm not sure what to tell you. Perhaps there are similar programs where you live. If not, just approach a few professors and ask if they have anything you can work on. You don't have to stand out in class to go talk to them. At any rate, you will want to be able to have a few faculty that you know fairly well and can vouch for you when it comes time to apply to grad school. (Or work!)

>>2873149

Second semester? I was doing an abstract algebra course out of Artin, topology course out of Munkres, and Semi-Riemannian geometry course that was over my head out of O'Neill. Still got some good out of the course, though, and I've been meaning to go back through with a bit more maturity under my belt and see what I can remember and fit together.

>>2873153

Oh, wow. I don't think any of my CS friends have ever had to even touch that language. Python is nice, but I have some sort of mistrust for stuff that isn't compiled.

I also just copypastad stuff from libraries for most of my numerics class, which is why I forgot almost all of it. That's what I get for taking a math class from the CS department, eh?

>>2873182

Thanks, I guess that helps out a bit.

>>2873201

Yeah, no prob. Coming up with good research problems is not easy, since most of the stuff that can be grasped by undergrads has already been picked through pretty well. You really need some guidance. If nobody will give you that guidance, I'd suggest you just go pick up a book on a topic you're interested in and read it. That's what I did one summer, and it was pretty alright.

>>2873196

its completely worthless unless you're a nuclear engineer monitoring a reactor or something like that. I'm still not sure why they use it. Its archaic.

>>2872914
do well? unless you're a fucking dumb ass, which you clearly are.

What is the probability that two randomly selected elements of the symmetric group of order n generate all of Sn?

>>2873196
>stuff that isn't compiled

python is compiled. think about your answer before you say it's not, because you'll make a fool of yourself if you say "HURR NOPE IT'S INTERPRETED"

>ctrl+f 48/2(9+3)
>288 results found

>>2873231

Yeah, my current knowledge of FORTRAN is that it was used ages ago, and currently it's mostly just kept around because nobody can be assed to fix what isn't broken.

>>2873251

Hm. Interesting problem. I would probably look at cycle decompositions. If a, b generate Sn, then if I break down a into cycles, then b should be able to get any guy from a cycle of a to any other cycle of a. Maybe out of that I could get a count on how many such a,b exist.

>>2873256

Well, I'm not in any position to say anything. I would assume that the stupid line-by-line python has to be interpreted, but I seem to recall my python scripts being able to pick out errors that wouldn't make sense if it were going line-by-line. Of course, maybe my memory made that shit up and I'm just trying to be non-confrontational. :P

>>2873278

Yeah. I don't really understand this one. Mathematical ambiguity makes for the best shitstorm starters?

>>2873196
>>2873231
>>2873309
Fortran is still used in the vast majority if not all weather and climate models.

>>2873153
How do you get arbitrary precision in Fortran?

>>2873358

I mean, I remember someone mentioning that some of the code that he ran in astrophysics simulations was written in FORTRAN, but it was old stuff that just did computations for a much larger software package. Are brand new, current models being written using the language?

why are you a cat?

>>2873335
Maybe you're a fucking idiot. You've heard of Py2Exe, right?

>>2873395

I'm a cat because cats are simply the best.

>>2873396

I hadn't until just now. It doesn't really surprise me that there are programs that convert python code into executables?

>>2873405
Look into how it works.

..who the fuck cares about a math undergrad? especially if you're not an upperclassman.

Thread Derailment: ask a behavioral neuroscience major ANYTHING!!!!! COME ON GUISE

I'm starting college next year absolutely love math but thanks to my horrible high school that fucked me out of credits I was only able to do math up to precalc, have I basically lost all hope of majoring in math in four years?

>>2873458
A BA in math is definitely still achievable, and you can probably get a BS unless you go to a school with an extensive GE program or with particularly extensive degree requirements, you'll just be dicking around for your first 2 or 3 semesters and working your ass off the rest of the time.

>>2873458
>he didn't even do calculus

>he thinks he's good at maths

>assuming "precalc" means the above, all you did was maybe some sequences, algebra, polynomials and matrices? Oh wow. Yeah, you're not going to major in maths...

>>2873383
Yes, because most of the senior researchers in astro and related physics fields started with Fortran, and therefore their grad students and collaborators are forced to use it, and so on.... There's F90 now, which is slightly better than F77, and it's become the standard. Still, a lot of us with computing backgrounds wish that everyone would hurry up and move on to either an OO language or something functional (Haskell, maybe). Unfortunately, senior researchers tend also to be on various university boards, department heads, or whatever, and learning new languages takes time they just don't have.

Some of the younger physicists are gravitating (get it?) to Java, and there's a fair bit of C and C++ out there too. But I'd say the majority of physical scientists don't realize that those are now just as fast as Fortran. It takes a while for advances in comp sci to catch up to physical scientists. :)

>>2873458
You'll do calculus in first year. Don't sweat it. Most people who enter university math don't have any calculus, and the programs are tailored to that.

>>2873480
maybe at Northwestern Wyoming Christian University or something, but real universities expect at least calc 1, in many top schools its a requirement for admission

> behavioural neuroscience
> science

gtfo faggot.

>>2873480
>Most people who enter university math don't have any calculus

continue, tell us how the world is made of ice cream

>>2873470

Never said that I was good at it.
I said that I liked it.
I've done some calculus thanks to Khanacademy but I really got fucked over for math credits thanks to a piece of shit counselor. This year I've had to take both precalculus and a review of algebra 2 despite consistently being an A student in math...

>>2873480
>>2873466

Awesome. Thanks.
Sorry for my ignorance but what is the difference between a BA and BS in math?

The sample schedules my university has starts with Calc I. I don't know if that's indicative of how much it sucks, or if they're just trying to make it accessible. Most of the 'legit' math majors that I am cohorts with started off with Calc III.

>>2872933
Not OP, but Abstract Algebra ftw!

>>2873493


Eh... I got into the University of Colorado.... Good enough for me.

>>2873458

Absolutely not. If you wanted to get a math degree at my school, you'd come in and get calc I and II out of the way, possibly linear algebra. Hopefully, those classes didn't make you absolutely hate mathematics. Then you can get diff eq. and calc III out of the way, possibly start chipping away at the upper level stuff by the end of your sophomore, definitely by the beginning of your junior year. You'd just want to be sure to clear out as many gen eds as you possibly could the first year and half so you could focus on math the rest of the time.

>>2873470

And don't listen to this guy. Not knowing stuff now doesn't mean you can't learn it later or don't have the capacity. :P

>>2873471

Tee hee, I get it. :P

>>2873512
I'm well aware it's not a *requirement* for a decent school, but to say it's not expected at a decent school is just false.

>>2873516


That's what all of my friends who are going to be studying math will be starting with.

Should I just take a calc class at a community college or something over the summer?

>>2873493
>>2873498
You can get into the MIT math program without high school calculus.

>>2873510
BA is less rigorous, BS is more rigorous, that's basically it. What more rigorous specifically means depends on the university, but that much is true pretty much everywhere, which means you'll work harder but your work will be noticed by employers or grad school admissions.

>>2873531

Wasn't MIT the school that actually ignored AP credit and made you take their calculus courses anyway?

>>2873528

From my point of view, you just want to get it out of the way so you can get on with your life. You'll basically have another crack at calculus and do it the right way when you take an analysis course. Basically, that more advanced course will assume you know how to compute derivatives, can do some very basic integrals, and probably not much more. Calculus 1-3 as taught in most schools is secretly for engineers and scientists, and I'm not really sure why math majors even need to take it since it's all redone with more theory later.

>>2873528
If it's not too much trouble, yes, taking Calc I at a CC to get it out of the way before uni is definitely a good idea, it's cheaper and it's basic enough that the difference in educational quality basically just means it's harder to get an A, plus most math classes require at least Calc II so you can start covering your requirements second semester instead of having to wait a year to get the basics out of the way.