Quantum Mechanics

July 2, 2018August 6, 2018Leave a comment

By Izzy Cox, Divya Iyer, Wgoud Mansour, Ashleigh Sico, and Elizabeth Whetzel.

Quantum Mechanics is the physics of molecular and microscopic particles. However, it has applications in everyday life as well. If someone asked you if a human was a particle or a wave, what would you think? What about a ball? What about light? Not so easy now, is it? It turns out that all of those things, and in fact, everything around us, can be expressed in physics as both a particle and a wave. This might seem a little unbelievable, but for now, let’s start with the basics.

Classical Physics

Although Classical Physics sounds like a complicated idea, it’s the most simple branch of physics. It’s what you think of when someone says “physics”. Classical Physics lays the basic foundation to Quantum Physics with a few basic laws.

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Surfaces

June 30, 2017July 3, 2017Leave a comment

By Elizabeth Datskevych, Nina Hadley, Sabrina James, and Rachel Ruff

In our problem set for the classification of surfaces, we learned many things about dimensions, folding, and the shapes folding makes. First we learned about what a dimension is. The definition of a dimension in this math is the direction an object can go. For example a bird can go up/down, left/right, and back/forth. Next we learned about folding and twisting objects. Diagram A shows a square with arrows on its side, which are the directions to fold. When you fold you match the arrows according to if they look-alike. So when you fold Diagram A it makes a cylinder. Now Diagram B has one arrow pointing the opposite of the other so you would twist before connecting the sides. Diagram B makes a Mobius band. We could make other shapes using the arrows such as the Klein bottle, and the torus. This topic was very fun and cool and it is a subject everyone will enjoy!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!#girlstalkmath #girlsrock #blog2017

Number Systems

July 12, 2019September 2, 2019Leave a comment

by Alysia Davis, Alyssa Drumgold, Pascale Gomez, Delaney Washington, and Auden Wolfe.

Intro to Number Systems

As children we grew up counting in the base ten system (1, 2, 3, etc). However, base ten is only one of many numerical systems. Over these past to weeks at Girls Talk Math at UNC, our task was to explore other number systems that are not as frequently used as the base 10 system, specifically binary and hexadecimal number systems.

Binary

The exact definition of binary is related to using a system of numerical notation that has 2 rather than 10 as a base. This means only two single digits are used, 0 and 1.

Binary is used for data storage. Binary basically makes it easier for computer processors to understand and interpret incoming information/instructions.

Binary was first discussed by Gottfried Leibniz in 1689 but binary numerical systems were not put to use until a binary converter was created hundreds of years later. The binary system was officially implemented just before the beginning of the nineteenth century.

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The Art of Cryptography

June 10, 2016July 31, 2016Leave a comment

By: Nia Beverly, Makayla McDaniel, Yuanyuan Matherly, and Tyler Deegan

Introduction

Cryptography is defined as the art of writing and solving codes. Upon first thought, many people picture codes as an antiquated war time communication technique. However, the field of cryptography is alive and well, and it has become pervasive in our everyday lives. The world is becoming more and more connected through technology, and with this, there is a greater need to protect information. Encryption is probably the most widely used application of cryptography, and it is used to protect information by making it so only one person with a key can understand what is transmitted. In the following paragraphs we will walk through the steps to mathematically understanding one widely used type of encryption.

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Schoolhouse Rock—Dr. Candice Price Rocks!

July 2, 2021July 7, 2021Leave a comment

By Clara, Ceren, Zoe, and Jess

Dr. Candice Price had always been good at math. But when her third-grade teacher presented “Schoolhouse Rock!–Multiplication Rock!” to her class, her passion truly began. The 30-minute multiplication lesson inspired her everlasting enthusiasm for mathematics. It is this inspiration that drove her to be the accomplished female mathematician that she is today.

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Elliptic Curve Cryptography

June 30, 2017July 3, 2017Leave a comment

By Noa Bearman, Kimberly Cruz Lopez, Tina Lin, Xintong Xiang, and Maria Neri Otero*

*Maria helped the group work through the problem set but was unfortunately unable to attend camp during the blog writing.

Introduction

Have you ever tried to send a secret message to a friend? Did it work? Was it secure? Well, one way to do so in a more secure way is by using Elliptic Curve Cryptography (ECC). Most people have never heard of ECC before, and two weeks ago, neither did we. However, in the past two weeks, we have been learning how to use this exciting application of the techniques of algebraic geometry and abstract algebra applied to the ancient art of keeping messages secure. ECC was first introduced by Victor Miller and Neal Koblitz in 1985. It was proposed as an alternative to other forms of cryptography with public-key systems such as DSA and RSA. Public-key systems involve the use of two different kinds of keys: a public key that is available to the public and a private key in which only the owner knows. The applications of ECC has been growing and has recently gained a lot of attention in industry and academia. The following information below will go more in-depth on what ECC is, how it works, its advantages, its disadvantages, and our progression throughout this course.

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Scientific Computing: Recurrence Relations

June 23, 2016July 25, 2016Leave a comment

By: Kathryn Benedict, Kate Allen, Sarai Ross, Rosy Nuam

Girls Talk Math is an all girls camp that introduces new topics that students would not normally see in their everyday math class at school. This camp also brings together many young women to better explore a field that is male dominated. During this camp we were able to research many important women that we able to make their own legacy while facing much adversity along the way. The camp wants to show not only the campers but also other women going into the field of math and science to not be afraid due to the gender difference, but instead use it as motivation to carry on doing what you love and making your own legacy along the way.

Our group consisted of four young women. Kathryn is a rising sophomore at Cedar Ridge High School. Kate is a rising sophomore at Carrboro High School. Sarai is a rising junior at Northern Vance High School. Rosy is a rising senior at East Chapel Hill High School.

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Network Science @ WPI

July 7, 2022July 29, 2022Leave a comment

By Maddie, Nitya, Amel, Alyssa

Introduction

We were part of this year’s Girls Talk Math program. This was a great opportunity that we came across in different ways. It has helped us learn about different math topics that we may not have had the opportunity to discover on our own. This topic may seem boring at first, but they all have their individual charms. The topic we chose was Network Science, and together we got to learn about things such as coding on Python.

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Alice Silverberg: A Snapshot of her Mathematical Career

July 2, 2021July 7, 2021Leave a comment

By: Claudia, Meghan, Elizabeth, Yunjing

Born on October 6, 1958, Alice Silverberg is a 1979 Harvard University graduate who then received her master’s degree and Ph.D from Princeton University under the supervision of Goro Shimura. Her academic career began at Ohio State University where she worked as an Assistant and Associate Professor of Mathematics from 1984 to 1996. In 2004, she moved to the University of California, Irvine as a Professor of Mathematics and Computer Science. For the next twenty years, Silverberg gave lectures at universities around the world and served as an active member of the nominating committee of the American Mathematical Society. Since 2008, Silverberg has worked as an editor for the Association for Women in Mathematics. She is also the writer of her own blog, Alice’s Adventures in Numberland, where she addresses prominent social issues of sexism and discrimination in her field.

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