Monday, February 25, 2008

Chia-Liang 3/1/2008

Time: Saturday 3/1, 2 PM
Location: RLM 9.166 (Robert Lee Moore Hall)
Speaker: Sun, Chia-Liang
Host: Wang, Wei Ching
Topic: How many things are there? (那堆東西有多少?)
Presentation summary:

摘要:「台灣目前居民有xxxxxxxx人,較中華人民共和國居民xxxxxxxxxx人為少」,「上個月立委選舉國民黨政黨票得票數為xxxxxxx,較民進黨得票數xxxxxxx為多」,「新科立委共113人,其中國民黨占xx席,較民進黨的xx席為多」,「我有三個叔叔,三個阿姨」...
以上都是「計數」與「比較多少」的概念。數學家如何將這些概念推廣來回答以下的問題:
所有整數與所有正整數,何者較多?
所有分數與所有整數,何者較多?
一條兩公分的線段上所有的點,與一條200公分線段上所有的點,何者較多?
總之,數不完的兩堆東西可以比較多少嗎?我將以深入淺出的方式,配合實例與故事,一步一步告訴大家這個問題是如何被解決的;並探討「錯覺」產生的可能原因,藉此此說明「定義」在所有學術研究中的重要性;以及現代數學研究的方式。
在背景知識上,除了何謂「正整數」、「整數」、「有理數」(即「分數」)之外,不預設任何數學背景,歡迎大家踴躍參加。

領域:集合論(set theory)

Kevin 2/16/2008

Time: Sat. 2/16, 2pm
Location: UTC 3.102 (Changes will be posted on the door)
Speaker: Kevin Lee (AMD)
Topic: U.S. Economy and Housing Market

Presentation summary: The U.S. economy is losing its momentum because of the financial crisis associated with deteriorations in the housing market and sub-prime mortgage loans. From 2000 to 2006, the U.S housing market delivered huge returns on the investment. In some regions like California and Florida, home prices had doubled or even tripled in this time period. In this presentation, I will talk about the major factors that caused home values to skyrocket. In addition, I plan to show some mathematical formulas to explain why the mortgage banks make more profits by originating sub-prime mortgage loans. These risky loans were ultimately sold to individual investors by the Wall Street investment banks. Because many sub-prime mortgage loans are in default now, investors are no longer interested in buying mortgage notes. As a result, many financial companies are experiencing monetary liquidity problems; lenders are not able to convert their mortgage notes into cash for making new loans. When money supply is tight, banks will make fewer loans to business and consumers. This is a negative factor that is causing the U.S. economy slow down.