Two new assistant professors joined our ranks this fall: Bo-nan Jiang, who specializes in numerical analysis, and Wen Zhang, who works in scientific computation. In addition, Ravi Bapat, an expert in combinatorics and linear algebra, is with us this fall as Visiting Professor. Professor Charles Cheng is on sabbatical leave this year, and Professors Alan Park and Datta Kulkarni are on leave for the Fall and Winter, respectively.
Last May the Department hosted an international conference on Algebraic Combinatorics.
APM 434: Numerical Methods (Shi, TuTh 5:30 PM). This course deals with the computational side of mathematics, such things as coming up with solutions to differential equations that can't be solved by calculus or algebraic techniques. The course is offered about once every two years.
APM 477: Computer Algebra (Park, MW 5:30 PM). This course explores the mathematics behind the algorithms used by computer algebra packages such as Maple and Mathematica. The course is offered about once every two years.
MTH 414: History of Mathematics (Wright, TuTh 7:30 PM -- NOTE TIME CHANGE!!). You should have completed MTH 351 in order to have the level of mathematical sophistication needed to understand the history of the subject as it will be taught here. Professor Wright usually stresses the history of calculus, using original sources. The course is required for majors who are in the Secondary Teacher Education Program, and it is offered every Winter.
MTH 453: Advanced Calculus II (Schmidt, MWF 1:20 PM). This is a continuation of MTH 351 and is required for the Bachelor of Science (and is an elective for the Bachelor of Arts) degree. It is offered every Winter, if enrollment warrants.
MTH 475: Abstract Algebra (Park, MW 3:30 PM). This course provides an introduction to groups, rings, and fields. It is hard to describe these topics before you study them, but if you liked the more abstract parts of linear algebra, you'll feel right at home in this course. MTH 475 is required of all mathematics majors, and it's offered every Winter.
STA 323: Design of Experiments (Kushler, MW 5:30 PM). If you liked STA 226, and especially the time spent studying analysis of variance, you should look into this course. All statistics majors will take this course, and it is an elective for math majors. It is recommended that you have taken STA 322 first. This course is offered every Winter.
STA 428: Mathematical Statistics (Khattree, MW 7:30 PM). This is the continuation of STA 427. If you're taking STA 427 now, you're probably already planning to take this course. The STA 427-428 sequence is offered every year.
In all cases, you can obtain further information by talking to the instructor.
If you have a request for future years, make your desires known to us! Also, don't forget that you can do independent studies of topics not regularly offered as courses. And if you meet the prerequisites, consider taking graduate courses or advanced computer science courses.
The department's Web Page has the following URL (and it is being updated this year to be more helpful): http://www.oakland.edu/links/math/). Come have a look! Netscape browsers are available on the computers in the computer laboratories on campus. Also check out the web site set up by the Mathematical Association of America: http://www.maa.org/students/students_index.html
All faculty have e-mail addresses that are the same as their last names (followed by @oakland.edu), with certain exceptions: bjiang, echeng, pshi, schochet, and w2zhang. Phone numbers and office locations can be obtained from the Department office (368 SEB, 370-3430) or the Web.
A mathematical modeling competition is also held each year. Professor Schochetman (553 SEB, 370-3434, schochet@oakland.edu) has offered to serve as sponsor. If there is enough interest, Oakland can field a team. See the web site http://www.maa.org/students/mcm_info.html.
There is also a contest for undergraduates in data analysis, for which Professor Taam (349 SEB, 370-3438) has offered to serve as coach. The deadline for submitting solutions is November 25. See the contest web site http://www.usafa.af.mil/dfms/contest for details.
Dr. Chipman likes combinatorics and the design and analysis of algorithms. In addition to teaching a wide variety of courses in our department (some of his favorites being the discrete mathematics courses APM 263 and APM 463, which he developed twenty years ago), he has taught data structures and algorithms courses for the CSE department. In the summers he has taught in a special OU program for middle school students, introducing them to another of his mathematical interests, chaos theory.
Dr. Chipman is also very active in university governance, having served most recently on the strategic planning committee, which drafted the university's goals for the coming decade. He also once chaired the faculty council of the Academic Skills Center.
Professor Chipman lives with his wife Caroline in Lake Orion. He has a grown son, a deceased daughter, and a grandson. When not engaged with mathematics, he likes to cook, read, take photographs, and play strategy games. His latest favorite game is Civilization II, a computer-based competition whose objective is to progress from primitive society to interstellar society, but he fondly recalls the old Avalon Hill days, when board versions of classics like Gettysburg occupied his spare time.
A ladder of length L has its bottom on the positive x-axis and its top on the positive y-axis. As it moves under these constraints, it sweeps out a region in the first quadrant. Determine the equation of the curved boundary of that region, find the area of the region, and find the equation of the locus of the point on the ladder closest to the origin.
In normal Nim, the playing field consists of some piles of stones. Two players alternately remove stones, with the only restriction being that they must remove at least one stone at each turn, and the stones they remove must all come from the same pile. The game is over when all the stones are gone, and the player who took the last stone wins. There is a nice classical theorem that tells who will win this game (first player or second player) and what the winning strategy is, as a function of the sizes of the piles at the beginning of the game. In the variation for this problem, each player is allowed (but not required) to redistribute some of the stones he or she removes from the chosen pile to other nonempty piles, as long as at least one stone is thrown away. Determine who will win this game (first player or second player) and what the winning strategy is, as a function of the sizes of the piles at the beginning of the game.