Summer Research 2006
The John S. Rogers Science Research Program prepares outstanding students for careers in the sciences by supporting collaborative scientific research between students and faculty. The program aims to attract and retain outstanding students and faculty in the mathematical and natural sciences. Small Board Computer Go
Writing programs to play the classical Asian game of Go is widely considered one of the grand challenges of artificial intelligence. While Chess programs are on a par with the best human players, Go programs still play at the amateur level. This summer’s work will address Go played on small boards (4x4 through 9x9). We have developed an architecture based on pattern recognition and minimax search. Research will involve expanding the database of patterns (both manually and via machine learning techniques such as genetic algorithms), enriching the pattern representation, and improving the search algorithms. Niku Schreiner '07, Andrew Pouliot '09, Bjorn Vanberg '08, and Peter Drake (Asst. Professor) Poster - Solving Tactical GO problems Network security and Internet research
The Internet, computer networks and distributed systems are fascinating topics. This summer, we will conduct research on grid computing (Globus Toolkit 4), web services and sensor networks. We will focus on security and performance issues. This internship includes studying existing systems, writing software and experimentation with various designs and algorithms. Chris Allick '06, John Charnas '08. Alex Hickman '07, Damon Tyman '07 and Jens Mache (Asso. Professor) Poster - Sensor Network Poster - Privacy in Pervasive Computing Octonionic Projective Plane
Parallel lines, such as railroad tracks, often appear to us to be intersecting at a very distant point. Projective geometry is often described as a geometry in which every two lines intersect. This geometry can be studied with use of coordinate systems; the coordinates may be real or complex numbers, quaternions or even octonions. This project will rigorously examine octonionic projective plane. Rowena Held '08, Brian Van Koten '07 and Iva Stavrov (Asst. Professor) Poster - Octonionic Projective Plane Music of the Sphere Quotients
Using mathematics we can study sphere-shaped drums made from an infinitely thin membrane with perfect spherical curvature. We can mathematically ‘strike’ one of these drums and record the infinite list of tones that the resonating sphere produces. Suppose I fold one of these spheres into a funny shape. Can you tell me what the folded sphere will sound like? If I ask you to close your eyes and listen as I strike the folded sphere, can you tell me how it was folded? We will examine these questions, which arise in the field of pure mathematics called spectral geometry. Jeannie Karns '06, Matt Lang '07 and Liz Stanhope (Asst. Professor) Poster - Music of the Spheres
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