Whether it is downloading files from the Internet, having conversations between cell phones, or sending information from a laptop to a printer, we often want to transmit data in situations where we need to worry about interference from other signals...
The 2008 Democratic Primary season was one of the most riveting in recent history in part because of the lengthy contest between New York Senator Hillary Clinton and Illinois Senator Barack Obama. Of the eight candidates who mounted national campaigns,...
From the earliest days of computing, the development of efficient methods of calculation has played a key role in expanding the diversity of problems computers can solve. Computational complexity studies the measurement of resources, especially time...
A good mystery often begins with its main characters innocently pursuing a commonplace activity. In this instance, one of us (Goldman) was working on a study of trends in fertility and mortality in the Republic of Korea. To cope with some of the gaps...
Are you bored with the parabola? Does the ellipse make you apathetic? Does the hyperbola give you that tired, run-down feeling? If so, you need some conic relief. This paper is the first in a series of mathematical side-shows on the conic sections. It...
The problem of assuring homogeneity in the exposed surfaces of materials that are manufactured from particle composites arises in many applied contexts. A major issue in solving the problem is the need to quantify our intuitive notion of homogeneity in...
Table 1 is a simulation of an annual statement from a mutual fund that invests primarily in stocks. On 6/25, a dividend of $0.20 per share was awarded. Since the investor owned 779.834 shares, the dollar amount of the transaction was (779.834)($0.20) =...
Introduction When a physician has to deliver bad news to a patient, the bottom-line question is, "Doc, what are my chances?" The doctor's answers are then usually couched in the language of probability. Recently, both patients and insurance companies...
Introduction Asign that the U.S. economy is suffering was the return and re-emphasis in 2011 of Christmas "layaway" plans at stores. These plans are a form of extending credit to customers, and many customers are grateful for the opportunity [Codispoti...
Background Federal tax rules provide for two particular kinds of personal retirement accounts: • Traditional IRA: In a tax-advantaged ("deductible") individual retirementaccount( IRA),thetaxadvantageis thatcontributionsaremadewith "before-tax" dollars;...
Introduction I joke that I'm the only one in our Mathematical Biology seminar who was born before we had DNA. A lot of things have changed since Thomas [1951] developed his syllabus for calculus in the late 1940s; calculus isn't one of them. We compete...
The following "Farmer Problem" appeared in Shine [2006]: A million farmers are randomly scattered on a square, flat plain, 1000 kilometers on a side. One farmer wins the lottery. He tells his nearest neighbor, who in turn tells his nearest neighbor,...
Introduction We design a system for a suspended mobile camera to be used in sports stadiums. Our system consists of a camera attached to four winches situated at the four cardinal ends of the stadium. An operator need only specify the desired position...
Introduction "What are some problems facing the world today?" This provocative question has become the standard opening gambit in my mathematics teaching. Students' responses include: climate change, terrorism, HIV/AIDS, Asian flu, energy dependence,...
The quickest way to spread information on a social network would be for someone of great "importance" to broadcast it. Which users are "important"? We attempt to address this question for Twitter. We view Twitter as a directed graph, with a directed...
Tomography: Where Mathematics, Biology, and Technology Come Together To Solve Problems in Many Areas This Module provides a real-life example that uses skills from Algebra II and Geometry, including • modeling using e and exponential functions, •...
Abstract We model the behavior of a walking golfer who must decide where to leave the golf bag when approaching a green to putt. The goal is to minimize the amount of walking (and hence the amount of time) necessary to finish the hole and move on to...
The goal of this short paper is to detail how long a piece of Christmas lighting you need in order to decorate a Christmas tree. The Model The model of the Christmas tree and the lighting is very simple. It rests on eight assumptions and notations. For...
Introduction In the article preceding this one, Ellison [2013] calculates how long a string of lights you need to decorate a holiday tree if the windings are equally spaced. We recount briefly his model and results and compare it to a simplistic model...
Introduction On October 14, 2012, Felix Baumgartner ascended by balloon to an altitude of 128,100 ft, whereupon he jumped out and fell to Earth at a speed that reached 834 mph. He landed successfully, after accomplishing the highest and fastest jump in...