Math 200 and 201W Fall 2007 - Undergraduate Seminars I and II - detailed info

   Alexander Teplyaev

course time and room:
W 5:30--6:20pm, MSB 319

• Choose a topic (which I must approve) as soon as you can, but no later than Wednesday, November 14.
• Give me a short outline of your paper as soon as you can, but no later than Friday, November 16.
• Schedule a meeting with me if you have any questions, or stop by during the office hours. Don't wait till the last moment.
• Give me a full length draft paper preferably before the Thanksgiving, but no later than Wednesday, November 28.
• Schedule a meeting with me about one week after the first submission of a full length draft.
• Keep in mind that sometimes several revisions are needed.
• The deadline for the final version is Wednesday, December 12.

Some advice on writing your paper:

• include a self-contained introduction to the topic
• write in the style of an expository paper, a math textbook, or a research paper
• make sure to provide accurate definitions
• state accurately mathematical results (theorems, lemmas, etc.)
• if possible, give complete mathematical proofs, or at least outlines, of the results
• provide accurate references
• references to published sources are the best
• look into samples to see how exactly references are made to the mathematical literature
• web references have to be limited, preferably, to traceable and dated sources, such as arXiv, or preprints

Here are some course materials (prepared by Keith Conrad and Jesse Ratzkin) to get you started: writing guides: first writing guide second writing guide a not so short introduction to latex AMS TeX Resources math200paper.tex, math200paper.pdf, a latex template for your paper some sample papers to consider as models for how to write mathematics (not necessarily sample papers for the course): Irrationality of pi and e Relativistic addition and real addition Kepler's laws (does not have references) existence and uniqueness of solutions to initial value problems for ODEs the Fourier transform

• Which lecture should I write about?
  Write about one of the lectures you find interesting. Also, because of your time constraints, it helps to write about one of the earlier lectures. If you're having trouble picking a topic, please come see me.
• Do I have to attend lectures other than the one I'm writing about?
  Yes, you have to attend at least 7 of the lectures. Make sure you write your name on the sign-up sheet circulated at the lecture.
• Do I have to write about the exact topic of the lecture?
  No, you can write about something tangentially related. For instance, a lecture about surface geometry may only mention geodesics (these are locally length-minimizing paths), and their mention gives you license to write an entire 8 page paper about them.
• Does this paper need to have math in it?
  Absolutely, yes. Your paper must include technical mathematics. Explain at least one general result and an example of two.
• How much explaining should my paper have?
  Try handing the paper to a friend interested in math who doesn't specifically know the subject you're writing about. This person should be able to read and understand your paper.
• What is a good place to look for references?
  Try looking at the library, MathSciNet, JSTOR, arXiv, Google Scholar, or ask me, other faculty, students, or a librarian.
• What format should I use?
  Firstly, the main text has to be typed, rather than hand written. Even if you have nice handwriting. Second, while you can use whichever word processing and typesetting program you wish, modern mathematical writing is mostly done using a program called latex. (Pronunciation of this name is the subject of much debate.) There are some links above to latex guides, writing style guides, and a latex template.

General description of the course:

To get exposure to various mathematical topics not met in other courses, students in this course attend undergraduate talks. The talks are once a week, by both local and outside speakers. Background for the talks will usually not go beyond calculus and some linear algebra. Attending at least 7 of the talks is required. The topic from one talk, at the student's choosing, will form the basis for a comprehensive written paper. The paper will give a self-contained introduction to the topic, include technical details going beyond the talk itself, and show a familiarity with relevant sources in the literature. It will be read by a member of the mathematics department and, following a discussion, be revised and re-submitted. The course may be taken twice, first as Math 200 and then as Math 201W. Completion of the second course will fulfill a W requirement within the mathematics department. Students enrolled, or planning to enroll, in this course are welcome to suggest topics for lectures in this course. Lists of talks from current and previous semesters (including some abstracts) are available at this link. Usually the talks are 5:30-6:20 on Wednesday.

The questions about writing the papers and grading are to be addressed to Alexander Teplyaev during office hours or by e-mail.

More information about writing the papers and grading

Completion of the sequence of both Math 200 and 201W courses will fulfill a W requirement within the Mathematics Department.

The University Senate decreed that all students at the university must take one of their W-courses in their major. A W-requirement is that a student writes at least 15 pages of revised graded work where the quality of the writing counts significantly as part of the grade and can not pass the course without passing the writing component of the course. Math 200 and 201W are to be taking one after the other. In each course, students will attend at least 7 talks. They will pick a talk and write an expanded treatise on it with at least 7.5 pages. There has to be a first draft of the paper with feedback from the instructor, Alexander Teplyaev (office hours, e-mail), and the final draft of the paper graded by the same instructor.

	http://www.math.uconn.edu