Past Meetings

Past Summer Meetings on Computational Mathematics

The Department of Mathematics at SFU hosts annual Summer Meetings on Computational Mathematics.

2014 SFU Symposium on Mathematics and Computation

2014 Program

The 2014 SFU Symposium on Mathematics and Computation is a showcase of research in computational mathematics at SFU, UBC, and UVic.

Program Schedule

Date: Wednesday, August 6th, 2014

Location: The IRMACS Centre, Simon Fraser University 

TimeEvent or Speaker
Title of Talk
9:00am Registration and Welcome Coffee

9:30am Ben Adcock (SFU)

Getting more from less: compressed sensing and its applications

10:15am

Stephanie van Willigenburg (UBC)

Quasisymmetric refinements of Schur functions

11:00am Morning Coffee and Poster Setup  
11:15am Poster Competition and Judging  
12:15pm Buffet Lunch
 
1:15pm Chris Sinclair (Oregon) Mathematics in the computer age: exploration and exposition
2:00pm Greg Mori (SFU)

Discriminative Latent Variable Models for Human Action Recognition

2:45pm Afternoon Coffee
3:00pm Andrew King (D-Wave) Working with the D-Wave quantum computer: Modeling, minors, and mitigation
3:45pm Award Ceremony Awards for Putnam participants, Undergraduate Research Prize recipients, and Poster Prizes.
4:15pm Poster Presentations by Award Winners
4:30pm Closing Remarks  


2014 Abstracts

Ben Adcock

Getting more from less: compressed sensing and its applications

Many problems in science and engineering require the reconstruction of an object - an image or signal, for example - from a collection of measurements. Due to time, cost or other constraints, one is often limited by the amount of data that can be collected. Compressed sensing is a mathematical theory and set of techniques that aim to enhance reconstruction quality from a given data set by exploiting the underlying structure of the unknown object; specifically, its sparsity. In this talk I will commence with an overview of some main aspects of standard compressed sensing. Next, motivated by some key applications, I will introduce several generalizations. First, I will show that compressed sensing is possible, and can in fact has some substantial benefits, under substantially relaxed conditions than those found in the standard setup. Second, time permitting, I will show that compressed sensing - whilst primarily a theory concerning finite-dimensional vectors - can also be extended to the infinite-dimensional setting, thus allowing accurate recovery of functions from small and incomplete data sets.


Andrew King

Working with the D-Wave quantum computer: Modeling, minors, and mitigation

The D-Wave Two (tm) is a quantum annealing processor consisting of 512 qubits operating at a temperature of 10-20 millikelvin. Its native operation finds a low-energy spin configuration in the Ising model on a fixed non-planar graph. In this talk I will give an overview of the system from a mathematician's perspective. Burning issues I will explore include quantumness, minor-embedding, error modeling, and upcoming developments.


Greg Mori

Discriminative Latent Variable Models for Human Action Recognition

Developing algorithms to interpret scenes of human activity involves a number of related tasks including human detection, tracking, and action recognition. These tasks are intertwined, information from one can provide assist in solving others. In this talk we will describe discriminative latent variable models to address these tasks together, focusing on the latent SVM / max-margin hidden conditional random field. We will review work a broad swath of work in this area. These methods can be used for jointly recognizing actions and spatio-temporally localizing them in videos. Models for human-human and human-object interactions will be presented. We will present methods for group activity recognition, with holistic analysis of entire scenes of people interacting and taking different social roles.


Chris Sinclair

Mathematics in the computer age: exploration and exposition

Mathematics is the study of provably true statements reachable using logic from an agreed upon set of assumptions. And, while the set of tools we use to prove statements has been largely static for the last few centuries, how we decide what to prove and how to share it with our students/colleagues/etc has undergone a remarkable transformation since the invention of the electronic computer. In this talk, I’ll demonstrate some phenomenon/patterns which are immediately apparent given a computer, and which without would probably have remained hidden from us. These examples give way to some very interesting (and applicable) mathematics, some of which I’ll try to explain. I’ll also talk a bit about how one might use new computer-based tools to share and explain new (or even old!) mathematics. So far, mathematicians have held on to linear modes of communication such as articles, books, etc, and while such things are unlikely to ever disappear, they don’t accurately reflect the true nature of mathematics as a body of knowledge (which is not a single linear progression of ideas, but a complicated highly connected graph), nor do they have the dynamic capacity to demonstrate the “doing" of mathematics. I wish to open a dialog about how modern computer-based tools can tackle the inherent non-linearity of mathematics in such a way as to open the beauty and applicability of mathematics to a wider section of humanity.


Stephanie van Willigenburg

Quasisymmetric refinements of Schur functions

Schur functions were introduced early in the last century with respect to representation theory, and since then have become important functions in other areas such as combinatorics and algebraic geometry. They have a beautiful combinatorial description in terms of diagrams, which allows many of their properties to be determined.

These symmetric functions form a subalgebra of the algebra of quasisymmetric functions, which date from the 1980s. Despite this connection, the existence of a natural quasisymmetric refinement of Schur functions has been considered unlikely.

However, in this talk we introduce quasisymmetric Schur functions, which refine Schur functions and many of their properties, as revealed by extensive computer-generated data.

This is joint work with Christine Bessenrodt, Jim Haglund, Kurt Luoto, Sarah Mason, Ed Richmond and Vasu Tewari.

The talk will require no prior knowledge of any of the above terms.

2014 Poster Session

Poster Information

The SFU Mathematics Department invites undergraduate and graduate research students to participate in the 2014 SFU Symposium on Mathematics and Computation Poster Competition. Postdocs and faculty may also present a poster but are not eligible for the competition.

The only requirement is that the poster has mathematics in it. It may be applied, pure, computational or experimental mathematics. If you have already prepared a poster for a presentation at another scientific meeting this year, and you would like to present it to members of the Department, this is an appropriate venue. If you wish to present a computer demo this is also possible.

Prizes

There will be one prize of $200 (winner) and one prize of $100 (runner-up) for the best undergraduate poster, and one prize of $200 (winner) and one prize of $100 (runner-up) for the best graduate poster. Judging will be based on both content and presentation.

Submission Details

Poster titles must be submitted via the online registration form by July 31st, 2014. Presenters are responsible for printing their own poster.

Display Details

The posters will be displayed in the IRMACS atrium. Poster presenters can set up their posters as early as 9:00am on August 6th, 2014. The poster and demo session will take place from 11:15am to 1:15pm. Awards will be made at 4:30pm, followed by a presentation of the winning undergraduate and winning graduate poster.

(19 results)
Poster TitleAffiliationNamesort ascending

2014 Registration

Details

  • A registration fee of $30 per participant will be charged to all participants except invited speakers and invited guests. The registration fee includes the cost of a buffet lunch at IRMACS.
  • Students may wish to ask their supervisor to pay for their registration fee.
  • The registration fee may be paid by cash or cheque at the registration desk on the day of the event (receipt will be provided at registration) or through an SFU account (journal voucher).
  • Participants who need assistance with the payment should contact Paul Tupper. 
  • If you are submitting a poster click on "Poster Submissions Details" to reveal the poster form.
  • Personal demographic information is collected below to satisfy reporting requirements of funding agencies. Such information is anonymized before being sent to PIMS.

2014 Sponsors

Thank you to our Sponsors

IRMACS logo The IRMACS Centre is a unique, interdisciplinary research facility that enables collaborative interaction - intellectually, physically and virtually. IRMACS focuses on facilitating the human interactions that are critical in interdisciplinary research by providing the technologies and technical support to promote effective interactions (computational, networking, human-computer interaction, remote collaboration, and visualization). By removing the traditional boundaries between scientific disciplines and physical boundaries due to distance, IRMACS creates a synergistic environment on an international scale.
PIMS logo PIMS promotes research in and applications of the mathematical sciences, facilitates the training of highly qualified personnel, enriches public awareness of and education in the mathematical sciences, and creates mathematical partnerships with similar organizations in other countries.
CECM logo CECM's mandate is to explore and promote the interplay of conventional mathematics with modern computation and communication in the mathematical sciences. The Centre provides a sophisticated but easy to use computational environment for research and collaboration in the mathematical sciences. Its resources are available to all its members and, where possible, to other interested individuals both at Simon Fraser and elsewhere via associate memberships and the Internet.
Simon Fraser University's logo The Department of Mathematics currently numbers 39 faculty. In a typical semester the ranks of regular faculty are augmented with up to 20 post-doctoral fellows and Visiting Professors. At present the Department has a graduate enrolment around 80. The Department has earned a national and international reputation as one of the most forward-looking and broad-based mathematical sciences departments in Canada. Undergraduate and graduate students thrive in the highly interactive and personalized environment which characterizes the Department and is typical of the unique character of Simon Fraser University. We offer a broad program of training in contemporary Mathematics, but also specialize in various areas for which we are internationally recognized.

2013 SFU Symposium on Mathematics and Computation

2013 Program

The 2013 SFU Symposium on Mathematics and Computation was a showcase of research in computational mathematics at SFU, UBC, and UVic.

Program Schedule

Date: Wednesday, August 7th, 2013 Location: The IRMACS Centre, Simon Fraser University 

TimeEvent or Speaker
Title of Talk
9:00am Registration and Welcome Coffee

9:30am Lily Yen (Capilano)

Automation for the generating series of coloured set partitions

10:15am

Pavol Hell (SFU)

Combinatorial dichotomy classifications

11:00am Morning Coffee and Poster Setup  
11:15am Poster Session and Judging  
12:15pm Buffet Lunch
 
1:15pm Alexandre Bouchard-Côté (UBC) Inference algorithms for continuous time Markov chains over large state spaces
2:00pm Roberto Armenta (SFU)

High-Order Finite-Difference Methods for Modelling Electromagnetic Wave Propagation

2:45pm Afternoon Coffee
3:00pm Robert Bridson (UBC) Simulating Smoke without Volumes
3:45pm Award Ceremony Awards for Putnam participants, Undergraduate Research Prize recipients, Operations Research Team Award, and Poster Prizes.
4:15pm Poster Presentations by Award Winners
4:30pm Closing Remarks  


2013 Abstracts

Roberto Armenta

High-Order Finite-Difference Methods for Modelling Electromagnetic Wave Propagation

Finite-difference methods are a popular choice for solving systems of partial differential equations (PDEs) numerically. Throughout my work, I employ finite-difference methods to solve the various systems of PDEs that arise in common electromagnetic problems. One of the most important recent developments in finite-difference methods has been the use of finite-difference approximations with an increasable order of accuracy. The ability to increase the order of accuracy of the employed approximations can considerably improve performance; however, to exploit high-order approximations effectively, it is necessary to clearly understand how to incorporate boundary conditions. This issue, which stands as the biggest barrier to the widespread adoption of high-order methods, will be the subject of the talk.


Robert Bridson

Simulating Smoke without Volumes

In computer graphics, and visual effects in particular, smoke simulation has become a standard tool. Typically it is modeled with incompressible fluid flow on a 3D grid, tracking soot concentration and velocity in the air, and calculating buoyancy and pressure forces to evolve it forward; volume renderers can take the soot concentration as input to produce the final images. However, this doesn't scale very well, particularly to real-time applications like video games where even the volume rendering alone is unacceptably expensive relative to the rest of the application. This calls for a little more mathematical analysis and algorithmic creativity! In many circumstances, we can model the soot concentration as uniformly smoky inside a region sharply bounded by a dynamically evolving surface; vorticity likewise provides a much more efficient representation of the velocity field. Avoiding any use of volume data, we can get to interactive simulation and highly efficient real-time rendering.


Alexandre Bouchard-Côté

Inference algorithms for continuous time Markov chains over large state spaces

Continuous time Markov chains (CTMCs) is a fundamental modeling tool in time series analysis, phylogenetics and many other areas of statistics. In most applications, simplifying assumptions are typically made to reduce the state space of the CTMCs to a finite and typically small collection of objects (in phylogenetics, for example, the four nucleotides). However, new questions and new data types motivate the development of CTMCs over strings, graphs and other countably infinite spaces. In this talk, I will describe some of our recent work on models and algorithms for analyzing CTMCs over countably infinite space. The first part of the talk will be devoted to the Poisson Indel Process, a model for string-valued CTMCs, and the second part, on inference on CTMCs over other countably infinite spaces. I will focus on applications in phylogenetics, but many of the algorithms and models have potential uses in other branches of applied statistics.


Pavol Hell

Combinatorial dichotomy classifications

In classifying the complexity of certain homomorphism problems, it sometimes turns out that it is the presence of a combinatorial obstruction in the target structure that causes a problem to become intractable. I will discuss several recent results of this type, including recent joint work with Egri, Larose, and Rafiey.


Lily Yen

Automation for the generating series of coloured set partitions

The equidistribution of many crossing and nesting statistics exists in several combinatorial objects like matchings, set partitions, permutations, and embedded labelled graphs. The enumeration of such objects according to their crossing or nesting number has been a challenge, often resulting in hard to solve functional equations.  When both nesting and crossing numbers are bounded, the generating series are rational for (arc-)colouredmatchings, set partitions, and permutations shown by Chen and Guo, Marberg, and Yen respective. We describe algorithms implemented in Maple that give the rational generating series for non-crossing, non-nesting, c-coloured set partitions and permutations. The success of the implementation leads to the possibility of automation for more complicated structures and provides new directions of attack for previously unsolved functional equations.

2013 Poster Sessions

Poster Information

The SFU Mathematics Department invites undergraduate and graduate research students, postdoctoral fellows and faculty members to participate in the 2013 SFU Symposium on Mathematics and Computation Poster Session.

The only requirement is that the poster has mathematics in it. It may be applied, pure, computational or experimental mathematics. If you have already prepared a poster for a presentation at another scientific meeting this year, and you would like to present it to members of the Department, this is an appropriate venue. If you wish to present a computer demo this is also possible.

Prizes

There will be one prize of $200 (winner) and one prize of $100 (runner-up) for the best undergraduate poster, and one prize of $200 (winner) and one prize of $100 (runner-up) for the best graduate poster. Judging will be based on both content and presentation.

Submission Details

Poster titles must be submitted via the online registration form by August 1st, 2013. Presenters are responsible for printing their own poster.

Display Details

The posters will be displayed in the IRMACS atrium. Poster presenters can set up their posters as early as 9:00am on August 7th, 2013. The poster and demo session will take place from 11:15am to 1:15pm. Awards will be made at 4:30pm, followed by a presentation of the winning undergraduate and winning graduate poster.

Posters and People

(41 results) Download as CSV

Namesort ascendingAffiliationPoster Title
Graham BaneroSFUAdditive Complexity of Infinite Words
Essex EdwardsComputer Science Department, University of British ColumbiaFine Water on Coarse Grids
Colin ExleySimon Fraser UniversityAn Agent Based Approach to Modelling Chronic O enders
Clinton InnesSFUModeling the influence of media in opinion dynamics
Avery BeardmoreSimon Fraser UniversityBoltzmann sampling of gene tree/species tree reconciliations
Ashok RajaramanDepartment of Mathematics, Simon Fraser UniversityAssembly of the Black Death agent genome
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arachni_name11
arachni_name11
arachni_name11
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Andrew AdamsSFUQuantifying the Relationship between the HIV-1 Mutation Rate and Clinical Markers of Disease Progression

Pages

2013 Registration

Details

  • A registration fee of $30 per participant will be charged to all participants except invited speakers and invited guests. The registration fee includes the cost of a buffet lunch at IRMACS.
  • Students may wish to ask their supervisor to pay for their registration fee.
  • The registration fee may be paid by cash or cheque at the registration desk on the day of the event (receipt will be provided at registration) or through an SFU account (journal voucher).
  • Participants who need assistance with the payment should contact Paul Tupper. 
  • If you are submitting a poster click on "Poster Submissions Details" to reveal the poster form.

2013 Sponsors

Thank you to our Sponsors

IRMACS logo The IRMACS Centre is a unique, interdisciplinary research facility that enables collaborative interaction - intellectually, physically and virtually. IRMACS focuses on facilitating the human interactions that are critical in interdisciplinary research by providing the technologies and technical support to promote effective interactions (computational, networking, human-computer interaction, remote collaboration, and visualization). By removing the traditional boundaries between scientific disciplines and physical boundaries due to distance, IRMACS creates a synergistic environment on an international scale.
PIMS logo PIMS promotes research in and applications of the mathematical sciences, facilitates the training of highly qualified personnel, enriches public awareness of and education in the mathematical sciences, and creates mathematical partnerships with similar organizations in other countries.
Simon Fraser University's logo The Department of Mathematics currently numbers 39 faculty. In a typical semester the ranks of regular faculty are augmented with up to 20 post-doctoral fellows and Visiting Professors. At present the Department has a graduate enrolment around 80. The Department has earned a national and international reputation as one of the most forward-looking and broad-based mathematical sciences departments in Canada. Undergraduate and graduate students thrive in the highly interactive and personalized environment which characterizes the Department and is typical of the unique character of Simon Fraser University. We offer a broad program of training in contemporary Mathematics, but also specialize in various areas for which we are internationally recognized.

2012 Computational Math Day

The Mathematics Department at Simon Fraser University was pleased to present Computational Math Day 2012 (CMD 2012), which was held on Wednesday, August 8th, 2012 at the IRMACS Centre, SFU Burnaby Campus. This annual event showcased the computational expertise of our Department and of other invited speakers.  

Program

The program includes invited talks and a Poster Session which will cover diverse topics in mathematics with an emphasis on computation. All participants are encouraged to contribute a poster to the Poster Session.

Prizes for the best undergraduate and graduate posters will be awarded.

Sponsors

Sponsorship from Maplesoft, the Center for Scientific Computing (CSC), the Interdisciplinary Research in the Mathematical and Computational Sciences Centre (IRMACS), the Pacific Institute for the Mathematical Sciences (PIMS), and the SFU Department of Mathematics is gratefully acknowledged. Learn more about our sponsors.

2012 Program

The CMD 2012 Program is a showcase of research in computational mathematics at SFU, UBC, and UVic.

Program Schedule

Date: Wednesday, August 8th, 2012 Location: IRMACS Centre, Simon Fraser University 

TimeEvent or Speaker
Title of Talk
9:00amRegistration and Welcome Coffee

9:30am Frank Ruskey (Victoria)

Venn diagrams and tatami tilings: vignettes from computational mathematics.

10:15am

Ian Mitchell (UBC)

Formal Identification of DC Operating Points in Integrated Circuits and some Lessons in (Ir)Reproducible Research in Computational Math.

11:00amMorning Coffee and Poster Setup
 
11:15amPoster Session & Judging 
12:15pmBuffet Lunch
 
1:15pmMarni Mishna (SFU)Towards Generating Random Mammalian Genomes.
2:00pmLjiljana Trajkovic (SFU)

Spectral Analysis and Dynamical Behavior of Complex Networks

2:45pmAfternoon Coffee
3:00pmBenjamin Lundell (Washington)Influence in Social Networks.
3:45pmAward Ceremony
Awards for Putnam participants, Undergraduate Research Prize recipients, Operations Research Team Award, and Poster Prizes.
4:15pmPoster Presentations by Award Winners

4:30pmClosing Remarks 


2012 Abstracts

Influence in Social Networks.

Benjamin Lundell, University of Washington

The behavior of members of a social network has been studied for many years. The traditional approach has been to look at the aggregate behavior of the network, and then average this aggregate over the network's users to determine a "representative member" of the network. In particular, this method assumes that each member acts independently of his or her peers and ignores the influence one member might have on another. In the last ten years, computer scientists and physicists have developed new approaches to studying this problem which are based on the assumption that a members' peers greatly influence his or her behavior. Thus, these models raise the question, "Who are the most influential members of a social network?" In this talk, I'll discuss some ideas on how to answer this question, and share some results of an ongoing project about political influence in the United States. This is joint work with Chris Aholt.


Towards generating random mammalian genomes.

Marni Mishna, Simon Fraser University

Genome arrangements, a major mechanism of evolution, shuffle genetic material along chromosomes. Thus, a now standard approach models groups of close genomes as signed permutations. The correct data structure to study permutations in this context is the common interval tree. In this talk we will describe the process of considering tree parameters to refine the class of common interval trees (hence permutations) to those that represent mammalian genomes well. These refinements are particularly amenable to Boltzmann random generation and analytic enumerative techniques. Work in collaboration with Mathilde Bouvel, Cedric Chauve, Rosemary McCloskey, Cyril Nicaud and Carine Pivoteau.


Formal Identification of DC Operating Points in Integrated Circuits and some Lessons in (Ir)Reproducible Research in Computational Math

Ian Mitchell, University of British Columbia

A DC operating point is an equilibrium toward which a circuit will be drawn for sufficiently nearby initial conditions when any inputs are held fixed.  DC operating points may or may not be desirable features in a circuit -- in an oscillator they represent lockup, but in a memory element they are the mechanism whereby discrete state is
stored.  Consequently, it is useful to identify a circuit's DC operating points.  Because the circuit is naturally drawn towards them, the most common technique to identifying such equilibria is through simulation; however, it is quite possible for the domain of attraction of an equilibrium to be small enough that simulation is unlikely to find it, yet large enough to cause occasional problems.

In joint work with Mohamed Zaki & Mark Greenstreet, we strung together a collection of public software from the formal verification and numerical analysis communities to rigourously identify and classify all potential DC operating points for surprisingly complex circuit models.  Unfortunately, the resulting workflow has proved fragile, and significant effort would be required for reproduction and/or extension.  In the second half of the talk I will discuss some tools and techniques that would have significantly improved the reproducibility of the results had they been adopted.


Venn diagrams and tatami tilings: vignettes from computational mathematics.

Frank Ruskey, University of Victoria

In this talk I will explain how computation has helped me and my students in resolving certain mathematical questions, via two specific recent examples. In the first example, we consider the problem of constructing a simple rotationally symmetric 11-Venn diagram. This problem was open for about 40 years and several incorrect solutions were proposed. Initially the problem seemed to be beyond the reach of exhaustive searches, but our recognition of a new type of "near-symmetry" in Venn diagrams suggested that searching in a certain reduced solution space might be fruitful --- which indeed it was. In the second example, we consider a tiling problem first investigated by Don Knuth. On the basis of his computations it seemed that the generating function for counting those tilings was I(z)*S(z) where I(z) was a mysterious irreducible polynomial and S(z) was a well structured and predictable. We have proved that S(z) is what it seemed to be, and revealed many interesting properties of the irreducible I(z), but its exact expression is still not known. [The students mentioned above are Khalegh Mamakani and Alejandro Erickson.]


Spectral Analysis and Dynamical Behavior of Complex Networks.

Ljiljana Trajkovic, Simon Fraser University

Discovering properties of the Internet topology is important for evaluating performance of various network protocols and applications. The discovery of power-laws and the application of spectral analysis to the Internet topology data indicate a complex behavior of the underlying network infrastructure that carries a variety of the Internet applications. In this talk, we present analysis of datasets collected from the Route Views and RIPE projects. The analysis of collected data shows certain historical trends in the development of the Internet topology. While values of various power-laws exponents have not substantially changed over the recent years, spectral analysis of matrices associated with Internet graphs reveals notable changes in the clustering of Autonomous Systems and their connectivity.

2012 Poster Session

Poster Information

The SFU Mathematics Department invites undergraduate and graduate research students, postdoctoral fellows and faculty members to participate in the Computational Math Day 2012 Poster Session.

The only requirement is that the poster has mathematics in it. It may be applied, pure, computational or experimental mathematics. If you have already prepared a poster for a presentation at another scientific meeting this year, and you would like to present it to members of the Department, this is an appropriate venue. If you wish to present a computer demo this is also possible.

Prizes

There will be one prize of $200 (winner) and one prize of $100 (runner-up) for the best undergraduate poster, and one prize of $200 (winner) and one prize of $100 (runner-up) for the best graduate poster. Judging will be based on both content and presentation.

Submission Details

Poster titles must be submitted via the online registration form by August 2nd, 2012. Presenters are responsible for printing their own poster.

Display Details

The posters will be displayed in the IRMACS atrium. Poster presenters can set up their posters as early as 9:00am on August 8th, 2012. The poster and demo session will take place from 11:15am to 1:15pm. Awards will be made at 4:30pm, followed by a presentation of the winning undergraduate and winning graduate poster.

Posters and People

(11 results)
Namesort ascendingAffiliationPoster Title (if applicable)

2012 Registration

Details

  • Registration is required by July 31st, 2012, for catering purposes. A registration fee of $30 per participant will be charged to all participants except invited speakers and invited guests. The registration fee includes the cost of a buffet lunch at IRMACS.
  • Students may wish to ask their supervisor to pay for their registration fee.
  • The registration fee may be paid by cash or cheque at the registration desk on the day of CMD 2012 (receipt will be provided at registration) or through an SFU account (journal voucher).
  • Participants who need assistance with the payment should contact Paul Tupper. 

2012 Sponsors

Thank you to our Sponsors

Maplesoft logo Maplesoft, a subsidiary of Cybernet Systems Co. Ltd. in Japan, is the leading provider of high-performance software tools for engineering, science, and mathematics. Its product suite reflects the philosophy that given great tools, people can do great things. Maplesoft’s core technologies include the world’s most advanced symbolic computation engine and revolutionary physical modeling techniques. Combined together, these technologies enable the creation of cutting-edge tools for design, modeling, and high-performance simulation.
IRMACS logo The IRMACS Centre is a unique, interdisciplinary research facility that enables collaborative interaction - intellectually, physically and virtually. IRMACS focuses on facilitating the human interactions that are critical in interdisciplinary research by providing the technologies and technical support to promote effective interactions (computational, networking, human-computer interaction, remote collaboration, and visualization). By removing the traditional boundaries between scientific disciplines and physical boundaries due to distance, IRMACS creates a synergistic environment on an international scale.
PIMS logo PIMS promotes research in and applications of the mathematical sciences, facilitates the training of highly qualified personnel, enriches public awareness of and education in the mathematical sciences, and creates mathematical partnerships with similar organizations in other countries.
Centre for Scientific Computing logo Motivated by the expanding role of scientific computation and mathematical modeling in science and engineering, the Centre for Scientific Computing was formed to bring together interdisciplinary research teams from various Simon Fraser University faculties. The major purpose of the Centre is to provide Simon Fraser University with a visible focus for computational research both on campus and in the wider Pacific Rim research community. Specifically, the Centre's goals are to facilitate discussion between scientific computing research groups (through seminars, workshops, conferences) to provide advanced instruction in computational techniques and applications (through graduate and post-doctoral programs), and to actively pursue joint research ventures with industry, government and laboratories.
Simon Fraser University's logo The Department of Mathematics currently numbers 39 faculty. In a typical semester the ranks of regular faculty are augmented with up to 20 post-doctoral fellows and Visiting Professors. At present the Department has a graduate enrolment around 80. The Department has earned a national and international reputation as one of the most forward-looking and broad-based mathematical sciences departments in Canada. Undergraduate and graduate students thrive in the highly interactive and personalized environment which characterizes the Department and is typical of the unique character of Simon Fraser University. We offer a broad program of training in contemporary Mathematics, but also specialize in various areas for which we are internationally recognized.

2011 Computational Math Day

The Mathematics Department at Simon Fraser University was pleased to present Computational Math Day 2011 (CMD 2011), which was held on Tuesday, August 9th, 2011 at the IRMACS Centre, SFU Burnaby Campus. This annual event showcased the computational expertise of our Department and of other invited speakers.  

Program

The program included invited talks and a Poster Session which will cover diverse topics in mathematics with an emphasis on computation. All participants are encouraged to contribute a poster to the Poster Session.

Prizes for the best undergraduate and graduate posters were awarded.

Registration

Registration closed as of Thursday, August 4, 2011

Getting to SFU and the IRMACS Centre

Get directions to SFU and the IRMACS Centre.

Sponsors

Sponsorship from the Centre for Experimental and Constructive Mathematics (CECM), the Center for Scientific Computing (CSC), the Interdisciplinary Research in the Mathematical and Computational Sciences Centre (IRMACS), the Pacific Institute for the Mathematical Sciences (PIMS), and the SFU Department of Mathematics is gratefully acknowledged. Learn more about our sponsors.


2011 Program

The CMD 2011 Program is a showcase of research in computational mathematics at SFU, UBC, and UVic.

Program Schedule

Date: Tuesday, August 9th, 2011 Location: IRMACS Centre, Simon Fraser University 

TimeEvent or Speaker
Title of Talk
9:00amRegistration and Welcome Coffee

9:30amAdam Oberman (SFU)
Discrete geometric game interpretations of nonlinear elliptic partial differential equations
10:15amWendy Myrvold (UVic)
Searching for a maximum set of mutually orthogonal Latin squares of order 10
11:00amMorning Coffee and Poster Setup
 
11:15amPoster Session & Judging 
12:15pmBuffet Lunch
 
1:15pmJessica Conway (UBC)
Viral load in treated HIV+ individuals modeled using branching processes
2:00pmCedric Chauve (SFU)
Looking for lost genomes
2:45pmAfternoon Coffee
3:00pmMatt DeVos (SFU)Homomorphisms to Clebsch, proof by computer
3:45pmPoster Awards

3:55pmPoster Presentations by Award Winners

4:15pmClosing Remarks 


2011 Abstracts

Looking for lost genomes

Cedric Chauve, SFU

Paleogenomics aims at reconstructing the genomes of extinct species, whose DNA can not be sequenced due to molecular decay. Hence the only possible approach is the study of current genomes (i.e. descendants of these extinct species) to detect conserved features that might indicate ancestral genomic characters and then to assemble these characters into ancestral genomes. Although the initial question is clearly biological, it can only be answered through an inference process that relies on both a mathematical model for ancient genomes and computational methods within this model. In this talk, I will present recent results on this problem, that rely on relatively old combinatorial notions such as the Consecutive Ones Property of binary matrices and PQ-trees.


Viral load in treated HIV+ individuals modeled using branching processes

Jessica Conway, UBC

I will discuss a stochastic model of within-host HIV viral dynamics. The modeling is motivated by observations of viral load in HIV+ patients on anti-retroviral treatment: though the treatment very effectively inhibits viral replication, a treated HIV+ individual's viral load remains non-zero. Further, blood tests show occasional "viral blips," short periods of increased viral load. We adopt the hypothesis that this low viral load can be attributed to activation of cells latently infected by HIV before treatment initiation. Blips would then represent small-probability deviations from the mean. Modeling this system as a branching process, we compute probability distributions for viral load using a novel numerical approach. These distributions yield blip amplitudes consistent with patient data. We then compute probability distributions on duration of these blips through direct numerical simulation. Our stochastic model of latent cell activation reproduces features of treated HIV infection, and can be used to provide insight into variability of treatment outcomes for HIV+ individuals not available in deterministic models.


Homomorphisms to Clebsch, proof by computer

Matt DeVos, SFU

Computer proofs are nothing new in graph theory... after all our most famous theorem, the Four Colour Theorem, was proved by a computer 35 years ago. I will discuss this and other computer proofs in graph theory, then detail a recent contribution of this type due to Robert Samal and myself. We give a computer proof that every cubic graph of girth at least 17 has a homomorphism to the Clebsch Graph.


Searching for a maximum set of mutually orthogonal Latin squares of order 10

Wendy Myrvold, UVic

A Latin square of order n is a n×n array of n symbols such that each symbol appears exactly once in each row and exactly once in each column. Two Latin squares of order n are orthogonal if, when superimposed, each ordered pair of symbols occurs exactly once. One of the big unsolved problems in design theory is to determine if it is possible to find three or more pairwise orthogonal Latin squares of order 10. This talk describes both theoretical and computational attempts at resolving this question. The talk will conclude with some suggestions for promising areas for continued search.

The research presented in this talk was done in collaboration with Russell Campbell, Erin Delisle, Mark Ellingham, Leah Howard, Nikolay Korovaiko, Brendan McKay, Alison Meynert, and Ian Wanless.


Discrete geometric game interpretations of nonlinear elliptic partial differential equations

Adam Oberman, SFU

In this mostly nontechnical talk, I will present discrete geometric games, which in simple cases you will be able to solve on a blackboard. Starting with familiar games, such as random walks, we will add new twists (choosing biased diffusions, exit strategies, random turns).

These games lead to interpretations and effective solution methods for nonlinear partial differential equations which appear in areas such as: Differential Geometry, Stochastic Control, Mathematical Finance, and Homogenization. Typical examples include: Hamilton-Jacobi equations, the Monge-Ampere equation, and the equation for the Convex Envelope.

2011 Poster Session

Poster Information

The SFU Mathematics Department invites undergraduate and graduate research students, postdoctoral fellows and faculty members to participate in the Computational Math Day 2011 Poster Session.

The only requirement is that the poster has mathematics in it. It may be applied, pure, computational or experimental mathematics. If you have already prepared a poster for a presentation at another scientific meeting this year, and you would like to present it to members of the Department, this is an appropriate venue. If you wish to present a computer demo this is also possible.

Prizes

There will be one prize of $200 (winner) and one prize of $100 (runner-up) for the best undergraduate poster, and one prize of $200 (winner) and one prize of $100 (runner-up) for the best graduate poster. Judging will be based on both content and presentation.

Submission Details

Poster titles must be submitted via the online registration form by Thursday, August 4, 2011. Presenters are responsible for printing their own poster.

Display Details

The posters will be displayed in the IRMACS atrium. Poster presenters can set up their posters as early as 9:00am on August 9, 2011. The poster and demo session will take place from 11:15am to 1:15pm. Awards will be made at 4:30pm, followed by a presentation of the winning undergraduate and winning graduate poster.

Posters and People

(25 results)
Poster Title (if applicable)AffiliationNamesort ascending
Faster Arithmetic over Multiple Extension FieldsCECM, Simon Fraser UniversityCory Ahn
Computational analysis of paleogenomics binary matrices through the C1PCECM, Simon Fraser UniversityBrad Jones
Computation of Moving Meshes on SurfacesSimon Fraser UniversityBenjamin Crestel
Inference of Ancestral Protein-Protein Interactions using methods from Algebraic StatisticsDepartment of Mathematics, Simon Fraser UniversityAshok Rajaraman
Theoretical advances on multichromosomal DCJ median computationDepartment of Mathematics, Simon Fraser UniversityAhmad Mahmoody

Pages

2011 Location

Location: Talks will be held in the IRMACS Centre's Presentation Studio. The poster session will be held in the IRMACS Centre's Atrium.

Getting to and around the IRMACS Centre at Simon Fraser University

IRMACS is located on the second floor of the Applied Sciences building, SFU Burnaby Campus. Following are links to web pages to help you navigate your way around SFU, Vancouver and BC.

2011 Sponsors

Thank you to our Sponsors

CECM's mandate is to explore and promote the interplay of conventional mathematics with modern computation and communication in the mathematical sciences. The Centre provides a sophisticated but easy to use computational environment for research and collaboration in the mathematical sciences.
The IRMACS Centre is a unique, interdisciplinary research facility that enables collaborative interaction - intellectually, physically and virtually. IRMACS focuses on facilitating the human interactions that are critical in interdisciplinary research by providing the technologies and technical support to promote effective interactions (computational, networking, human-computer interaction, remote collaboration, and visualization). By removing the traditional boundaries between scientific disciplines and physical boundaries due to distance, IRMACS creates a synergistic environment on an international scale.
PIMS promotes research in and applications of the mathematical sciences, facilitates the training of highly qualified personnel, enriches public awareness of and education in the mathematical sciences, and creates mathematical partnerships with similar organizations in other countries.
Motivated by the expanding role of scientific computation and mathematical modeling in science and engineering, the Centre for Scientific Computing was formed to bring together interdisciplinary research teams from various Simon Fraser University faculties. The major purpose of the Centre is to provide Simon Fraser University with a visible focus for computational research both on campus and in the wider Pacific Rim research community. Specifically, the Centre's goals are to facilitate discussion between scientific computing research groups (through seminars, workshops, conferences) to provide advanced instruction in computational techniques and applications (through graduate and post-doctoral programs), and to actively pursue joint research ventures with industry, government and laboratories.
The Department of Mathematics currently numbers 39 faculty. In a typical semester the ranks of regular faculty are augmented with up to 20 post-doctoral fellows and Visiting Professors. At present the Department has a graduate enrolment around 80. The Department has earned a national and international reputation as one of the most forward-looking and broad-based mathematical sciences departments in Canada. Undergraduate and graduate students thrive in the highly interactive and personalized environment which characterizes the Department and is typical of the unique character of Simon Fraser University. We offer a broad program of training in contemporary Mathematics, but also specialize in various areas for which we are internationally recognized.

2011 Registration

If you would like to register for the 2011 Computational Math Day, please fill out the following form.

2010 Computational Math Day

The Mathematics Department at Simon Fraser University is pleased to present Computational Math Day 2010 (CMD 2010). CMD 2010 will be held on Thursday, August 12, 2010 at the IRMACS Centre, SFU Burnaby Campus. This annual event will showcase the computational expertise of our Department.

Program

The program includes invited talks and a Poster Session which will cover diverse topics in mathematics with an emphasis on computation. All participants are encouraged to contribute a poster to the Poster Session. Visit the Poster Information page to learn more.

Cash prizes for the best undergraduate and graduate posters will be awarded.

Registration

Registration is required.

Getting to SFU and the IRMACS Centre

Get directions to SFU and the IRMACS Centre.

Sponsors

Sponsorship from the Centre for Experimental and Constructive Mathematics (CECM), the Interdisciplinary Research in the Mathematical and Computational Sciences Centre (IRMACS), the Pacific Institute for the Mathematical Sciences (PIMS), and the Mathematics of Information Technology and Complex Systems (MITACS) is gratefully acknowledged. Learn more about our sponsors.

Design by Andrew Rechnitzer Design by Nilima Nigam

2010 Program

The CMD 2010 Program is a showcase of the SFU Mathematics Department's research in computational mathematics. 

Program Schedule

Date: Thursday, August 12, 2010 Location: IRMACS Centre, Simon Fraser University 

TimeSpeakerSession Title
8:30am Registration  
9:00am Andrew Rechnitzer (UBC) GAS sampling of polygons and knot probability ratios
9:45am Nils Bruin (SFU) Decidability of the existence of rational points on algebraic curves
10:30am Coffee Break / Poster Set Up  
10:45am Poster Session  
12:15pm Lunch at the Himalayan Peak  
1:30pm Anne Greenbaum (UW) Crouzeix's Conjecture and Perturbed Jordan Blocks
2:15pm Nilima Nigam (SFU) How do bones grow? From lab to desktop, a mathematical journey
3:00pm Poster Awards  
3:05pm Coffee Break  
3:30pm Mary-Catherine Kropinski (SFU) Fast intergral equation methods for the heat equation and the modified Helmholtz equation in two dimensions
4:15pm Mike Monagan (SFU) Sparse Polynomial Interpolation
5:00pm Closing Remarks  


2010 Posters & People

Poster Information

The SFU Mathematics Department invites graduate and undergraduate research students, postdoctoral fellows and faculty members to participate in the Computational Math Day 2010 Poster Session.

The only requirement is that the poster has mathematics in it. It may be applied, pure, computational or experimental mathematics. If you have already prepared a poster for a presentation at another scientific meeting this year, and you would like to present it to members of the Department, this is an appropriate venue. If you wish to present a computer demo this is also possible.

Prizes

Up to four prizes (two at 200 dollars and two at 100 dollars) will be awarded to participants with the best posters. Judging criteria are based 50% on content and 50% on presentation.

Submission Details

Poster titles must either be emailed to Marni Mishna, or submitted via the online registration form by Monday, August 2, 2010. Please include the presenter names, title of the poster, and if applicable, the poster file in PDF format. Presenters are responsible for printing their own poster.

Display Details

The posters will be displayed in the IRMACS atrium. Poster presenters can set up their posters as early as 8:30am on August 12, 2010. The poster and demo session will take place from 10:45am to 12:00pm. Awards will be presented at 3:00pm.

Posters and People

Name Affiliation Poster Title
Marni Mishna Simon Fraser University  
Michael Monagan Simon Fraser University  
Mahdi Javadi Simon Fraser University On Sparse Interpolation over Finite Fields
Soo Go Simon Fraser University  
Steve Kieffer Simon Fraser University  
Bryan Quaife Simon Fraser University Fast Integral Equation Methods for the Modified Helmholtz Equation
Stephen Melczer Simon Fraser University Prime Decomposition of Ideals in Polynomial Rings
Petr Lisonek Simon Fraser University  
Hui Yi Lu Simon Fraser university  
Andrew Arnold Simon Fraser University A fast recursive algorithm for computing cyclotomic polynomials
Robert Shih Simon Fraser University Plotting Algebraic Plane Curves Containing Singularities
Todd Keeler Simon Fraser University Rendering Smoke via Fast Vortex Methods
Niamh Chaparro Simon Fraser University An Intro to the Dissipative Particle Dynamics Simulation Method
Sophie Burrill Simon Fraser University On k-crossings and k-nestings of permutations
Cory Ahn Simon Fraser University Multiplication of Univariate Polynomials over Algebraic Number Fields
Radina Droumeva Simon Fraser University Image Segmentation: Finding Eyeballs in 3D Brain MRI Images
Jonathan Jedwab Simon Fraser University  
Michael de Guzman Simon Fraser University A Nonlocal Isoperimetric Problem
Natalia Iwanski Simon Fraser University Directionality of Criminal Vectors- Phase 2: Modelling Disruptions along an Offender's Journey to Crime
Valerie Chong Simon Fraser University The Math Behind Your Childhood Toys
Aki Ayukawa Avis Simon Fraser University Using a Power Filter to Search for Golay Triads
Jane Wodlinger Simon Fraser University
 
Brittany Froese Simon Fraser University Fast Finite Difference Methods for the Elliptic Monge-Ampere Equation
Reanne Bowlby Simon Fraser University
Simulating N-class Pedestrian Flow Using CLAWPACK
Alexander Molnar Simon Fraser University  
James Ratcliffe Simon Fraser University  
Michael Fry Simon Fraser University Dynamical Systems in the Cognitive Architecture of Syllabification
Veselin Jungic Simon Fraser univerrsity  
Amy Wiebe Simon Fraser University A new construction of Golay sequences of length 2^m
Yun-Jung Kim Simon Fraser University  
Karen Yeats Simon Fraser University  
Aleksandar Vlasev Simon Fraser University Calculation of Feynman Integrals using Dodgson Polynomial Identities
Konrad Duch Simon Fraser University Calculation of Feynman Integrals using Dodgson Polynomial Identities
Kevin Doerksen Simon Fraser University  
Cedric Chauve Simon Fraser University  
Ahmad Mahmoody Simon Fraser University
 
Ashok Rajaraman Simon Fraser University  
Yuanxun Bill Bao Simon Fraser University Linear Instability of a Wave in a Density Stratified Fluid
Behnam Torabi Simon Fraser University Mathematical Models for Self-organization of Biological Groups
Parousia Rockstroh Simon Fraser University The Closest Point Method
Kai-Uwe Schmidt Simon Fraser University  
Gordon Hiscott Simon Fraser University A Mathematical Model & Numerical Studies of Cyclical Neutropenia
Yang Xin Simon Fraser University  
Mariolys Rivas Simon Fraser University D-finite symmetric functions
Navid Alaei Simon Fraser University  
Nils Bruin Simon Fraser University  
Roman Pearce Simon Fraser University  
Anne Greenbaum University of Washington
Andrew Rechnitzer University of British Columbia  
Thomas Wong University of British Columbia  
Mahdad Khatirinejad Aalto University  
Nilima Nigam Simon Fraser University  
Manfred Trummer Simon Fraser University  
Benjamin Crestel Simon Fraser University  
Mehrnoush Malekesmaeili Simon Fraser University  
Peter Borwein Simon Fraser University  

2010 Location

Location: Talks will be held in the IRMACS Centre's Presentation Studio. The poster session will be held in the IRMACS Centre's Atrium.

Getting to and around the IRMACS Centre at Simon Fraser University

IRMACS is located on the second floor of the Applied Sciences building, SFU Burnaby Campus. Following are links to web pages to help you navigate your way around SFU, Vancouver and BC.

2010 Registration

Details

  • Registration is required in advance of the event. A registration fee of $50 per participant will be charged to all participants except invited speakers and invited guests. The registration fee includes the cost of lunch at the Himalayan Peak.
  • Students may wish to ask their supervisor to pay for their registration fee.
  • The registration fee may be paid by cash at the registration desk on the day of CMD 2010 (receipt will be provided at registration) or through an SFU account (journal voucher).
  • Participants who need assistance with the payment should contact Marni Mishna at mmishna@sfu.ca.
Registration is now closed.

2010 Sponsors

Thank you to our Sponsors

Centre for Experimental and Constructive Mathematics www.cecm.sfu.ca CECM's mandate is to explore and promote the interplay of conventional mathematics with modern computation and communication in the mathematical sciences. The Centre provides a sophisticated but easy to use computational environment for research and collaboration in the mathematical sciences.
Interdisciplinary Research in the Mathematical and Computational Sciences Centre www.irmacs.sfu.ca The IRMACS Centre is a unique, interdisciplinary research facility that enables collaborative interaction - intellectually, physically and virtually. IRMACS focuses on facilitating the human interactions that are critical in interdisciplinary research by providing the technologies and technical support to promote effective interactions (computational, networking, human-computer interaction, remote collaboration, and visualization). By removing the traditional boundaries between scientific disciplines and physical boundaries due to distance, IRMACS creates a synergistic environment on an international scale.
Pacific Institute for the Mathematical Sciences www.pims.math.ca PIMS promotes research in and applications of the mathematical sciences, facilitates the training of highly qualified personnel, enriches public awareness of and education in the mathematical sciences, and creates mathematical partnerships with similar organizations in other countries.
SFU Department of Mathematics www.math.sfu.ca The Department of Mathematics currently numbers 39 faculty. In a typical semester the ranks of regular faculty are augmented with up to 20 post-doctoral fellows and Visiting Professors. At present the Department has a graduate enrolment around 80. The Department has earned a national and international reputation as one of the most forward-looking and broad-based mathematical sciences departments in Canada. Undergraduate and graduate students thrive in the highly interactive and personalized environment which characterizes the Department and is typical of the unique character of Simon Fraser University. We offer a broad program of training in contemporary Mathematics, but also specialize in various areas for which we are internationally recognized.

2009 Centre for Experimental and Constructive Mathematics

CECM, Maplesoft, MITACS, IRMACS and PIMS are pleased to present "CECM 2009", a summer conference hosted by CECM under the title "Summer Workshop on Computational Mathematics" at Simon Fraser University.

CECM 2009 is a one day meeting on Friday, July 24, 2009. It is one in a series of informal summer meetings.

The Workshop Program includes talks and a poster session which cover diverse topics in mathematics with an emphasis on computation. Participants are invited to contribute a poster at the Poster Session.

http://www.cecm.sfu.ca/events/CECM09/

2007 Centre for Experimental and Constructive Mathematics

Wednesday August 8, 2007
IRMACS Centre · SFU Burnaby Campus

CECM, Maplesoft, MITACS, IRMACS and PIMS are pleased to present "CECM 2007", a summer conference hosted by CECM under the title "Summer Workshop on Computational Mathematics" at Simon Fraser University.

CECM 2007 is a one day meeting on Wednesday, August 8, 2007. It is one in a series of informal summer meetings.

The Workshop Program includes talks and a poster session which cover diverse topics in mathematics with an emphasis on computation. Participants are invited to contribute a poster at the Poster Session

http://www.cecm.sfu.ca/events/CECM07/

2006 Centre for Experimental and Constructive Mathematics

Wednesday August 9, 2006
IRMACS Centre · SFU Burnaby Campus

CECM, Maplesoft, MITACS, IRMACS and PIMS are pleased to present "CECM 2006", a summer conference hosted by CECM under the title "Summer Workshop on Computational Mathematics" at Simon Fraser University.

CECM 2006 is a one day meeting on Wednesday, August 9, 2006. It is one in a series of informal summer meetings.

The Workshop Program includes talks and a poster session which cover diverse topics in mathematics with an emphasis on computation. Participants are invited to contribute a poster at the Poster Session.

http://www.cecm.sfu.ca/events/CECM06/