A research group led by Prof. Ingrid Daubechies, and recent Duke PhD. graduate, Dr. Tingran Gao, in collaboration with the Duke Department of Evolutionary Anthropology, combines computer graphics, geometry processing, and machine learning, to study the evolutionary history of primates based on quantified variations of the shapes of anatomical surfaces like teeth and bones. By minimizing an energy functional between two triangular meshes, they defined a distance for two digitized anatomical surfaces, which also comes with a… read more about Mapping Lemur Teeth »
Ingrid Daubechies has won the 2012 Frederic Esser Nemmers Prize for mathematics. Durham, NC - Northwestern University has named Ingrid Daubechies the 2012 recipient of the Frederic Esser Nemmers Prize in mathematics. The award recognizes Daubechies' passion as an educator and her work on wavelets, which help with data and image processing. The selection was announced April 17, 2012. Daubechies' research affects millions of consumer and technological products, including seismic exploration, audio and video coders,… read more about Daubechies Wins Nemmers Prize »
Eugene Rabinovich, a physics and mathematics double major, studies string theory with professor Ronen Plesser Durham, NC - Eugene Rabinovich, a Duke University junior, has been selected as a 2014 scholar by the Barry M. Goldwater Scholarship and Excellence in Education Program. Rabinovich is among 283 students awarded Goldwater Scholarships for the 2014-15 academic year. The one- and two-year scholarships go toward covering the cost of tuition, fees, books, room and board up to a maximum of $7,500 per year. The scholarship… read more about Rabinovich Named 2014 Goldwater Scholar »
New faculty member applies math to solve some of the hardest questions in science Durham, NC - As a mathematician, Jianfeng Lu appreciates the abstract beauty of theories and proofs. But he also sees his craft as a powerful, pragmatic tool for helping researchers solve their greatest scientific challenges. Lu, 29, joined Duke in the summer of 2012 as an assistant professor in the mathematics department. Trained as an applied mathematician, he helps scientists in chemistry, materials science and biology develop mathematical… read more about Jiangfeng Lu: The Mathematics of Materials and of the Body »
Durham, NC - Are you blaming those rising prices for airplane tickets on the mergers in the industry? Senior Jonathan Gao says you might be right but the economics of the ticket price isn't that straightforward. The economics and math major from Ellicott, Md., studies a field of economics called industrial organization, which looks at firms, sellers, product pricing and competition in various markets. His project specifically looks at how the prices of airplane tickets fluctuate after airline company mergers. Using data… read more about Jonathan Gao: What Do Mergers Mean for Prices? »
Durham, NC - When he wasn't boxing at a local gym in Durham and playing intramural soccer, senior Hunter Nisonoff spent his summer researching potential HIV vaccines in Bruce Donald’s lab. Nisonoff, a math major and global health and chemistry minor from Emerson, N.J., is working on two projects: one project is based in theory and the other focuses on applications of the theory. His mentor, Bruce Donald, is the James B. Duke professor of computer science and chemistry. His first project, funded by the Dean’s Summer Research… read more about Hunter Nisonoff: Student Research Explores Designs for New HIV Vaccines »
As a four-year-old, Lillian Pierce remembers watching her mother balance her checkbook and realizing that the numbers juxtaposed on the page were, in a sense, communicating with each other. “My mother explained that the numbers told her what to write down next. It was remarkable to me that those symbols could talk to each other -- that they had specific relationships, and that it was possible to learn what those relationships were in order to play this game called long division.” Today, Pierce, a 34-year-old mathematician… read more about Lillian Pierce: A Head for Pure Mathematics »
Researchers are building complex mathematical models to understand cancer's evolution and how to treat it. Durham, NC - Two Duke researchers are focusing on the deadly mathematics behind the mutated genes and damaged cells that drive cancer. "Cancer is the end result of an accumulation of genetic mutations," says Rick Durrett, a professor of mathematics at Duke. "It can be boiled down into a series of probabilities of whether or not a cell will become mutated, whether the cell will get the correct combination of… read more about Factoring in the Deadly Math of Cancer »
With math equations that analyze brush strokes, new discoveries about the world's greatest art are possible. It took X-ray fluorescence spectroscopy and a painting algorithm to reveal the hidden portrait of a peasant underneath the painting of Vincent Van Gogh’s “Patch of Grass.” And that feat, accomplished in 2008, was just the beginning. Art history and mathematics may seem an unlikely combination, but math techniques in image analysis is transforming the way art historians and conservationists do their work. Algorithms… read more about Van Gogh and the Algorithm: How Math Can Save Art »
A common prejudice holds that women can't match the strength of men in mathematics. But for more than three decades, Belgian physicist/mathematician Ingrid Daubechies has been proving the prejudice wrong – and using maths to make a better world. As a little girl, Ingrid Daubechies felt she was always a bit different from her friends. Before the age of 6, she was already familiar with complex mathematical concepts, and when she couldn’t sleep she did not count numbers as others do, but instead mentally computed powers of 2.… read more about Math is (also) for Women »
Anne Talkington, an undergraduate Mathematics student under the auspices of Richard Durrett, attempts to gain a quantitative grasp on cancer through mathematical modeling. Historically, tumor growth has only been measured in vitro (in a laboratory setting); however, Talkington looks at clinical data from MRIs and mammograms to study how tumors grow in vivo (in the human body). Talkington is primarily interested in how fast tumors grow and if growth is limited. To analyze these trends, Talkington extracted two time-point… read more about An Intersection of Math and Medicine: Modeling Cancerous Tumor Kinetics »
Durham, NC - Racially and economically mixed cities are more likely to stay integrated if the density of households stays low, finds a new analysis of a now-famous model of segregation. By simulating the movement of families between neighborhoods in a virtual “city,” Duke University mathematician Rick Durrett and graduate student Yuan Zhang find that cities are more likely to become segregated along racial, ethnic or other lines when the proportion of occupied sites rises above a certain critical threshold -- as low as 25… read more about Could Suburban Sprawl Be Good For Integration? »
Q. How can math be used to keep us healthy and safe? We have all sorts of data at our fingertips – on healthcare trials and treatments, crime statistics, and weather patterns for example. But how do we use the data to make the best and most ethical decisions? Mathematical modeling can be used to help us understand a problem in a new way. It can be used to make predictions on what clinical trials to run, where crime will happen, or when catastrophic storms might hit. We can use predictive modeling to help decide where to… read more about How Can Math Be Used to Keep us Healthy and Safe? »
Rowena Gan ('15) combined music and math for her Graduation with Distinction project. Rowena studied piano at Duke with David Heid. She majored in math, and earned a minor in music. read more about Rowena Gan: Math & Music »
Bracket math isn’t an exact science, but for years mathematicians have told us that the odds of picking a perfect NCAA tournament bracket are a staggering 1 in 9,223,372,036,854,775,808 (that’s 9.2 quintillion). According to Duke math professor Jonathan Mattingly, the average college basketball fan has a far better chance of achieving bracket perfection. Taking into account the fact that a 16 seed has never beaten a one-seed (meaning your bracket should have four guaranteed wins) and adjusting… read more about Duke Math Professor Says Odds of a Perfect Bracket are One in 2.4 Trillion »
Math and computer science student Will Victor is spending his summer immersed in Albert Einstein’s theory of general relativity and learning to conduct mathematics research. Victor, from Aiken, South Carolina, is working with math and physics Professor Hubert Bray to explore how geometry relates to general relativity. General relativity explains how gravity affects space and time — pulling on them to create curvature we can both predict and measure. Think of how a world map must have curved latitude and longitude… read more about Student’s Summer is a Deep Dive into Deep Math »
Paul Ziquan Yang is using mathematical techniques to eliminate errors in computer hardware. Over the summer, the rising junior math major worked with Robert Calderbank, Charles S. Sydnor professor of computer science, as part of the PRUV Fellowship program, a six-week mentorship sponsored by the Department of Mathematics. Yang now plans to continue to work with Calderbank in the fall and may turn the project into a senior thesis. “Professor Calderbank has been a great source of encouragement and inspiration,” Yang said. “I… read more about Math junior flips for ‘bit flips’ »
Mathematicians' study bolsters call for non-partisan reform. Researchers at Duke University have developed a mathematical model that shows how changes in North Carolina’s congressional voting districts could affect election outcomes. Focusing on the last election, the researchers varied the state’s congressional districts to calculate what the outcome of the 2012 U.S. House of Representatives elections might have been had the state’s districts been drawn to emphasize nonpartisan boundaries. The team re-ran the election… read more about Same Votes, Different Districts Would Change Results »
"My time as a math major at Duke was extremely enjoyable. The faculty were very understanding and helpful, which was important to me since playing on the Duke soccer team and the Icelandic national team kept me very busy. I liked that the classes were often quite small, which made it easier to get to know my classmates and get more attention from my professors.” Thora Helgadottir (‘04), professional soccer player read more about Thora Helgadottir, professional soccer player »
“By pursuing a math major I was able to study quantitative topics relevant to diverse disciplines of science and the social sciences while keeping my post-Duke options open for as long as possible. Most majors in science, engineering, economics, etc. require knowledge of some combination of multivariable calculus, differential equations, probability and statistics, and general problem-solving intuition. Even as late as fall of senior year I was simultaneously interviewing for consulting positions and applying to… read more about Catherine Hartman, Neuroscience PhD candidate »
“I went to Duke wanting to study both math and theater, but worried about the difficulty of pursuing two such different majors. Fortunately, I connected early on with wonderful mentors in the Math department who were supportive of both my interests. I have been able to blend my math and theater majors, even developing a senior distinction project that involves performing a play about math. I also had the opportunity to serve as a TA and work in the math help room, which was perfect for someone like me who wants to teach… read more about Heather Wiese, Math Major »
“I had a wonderfully rich experience as a math major. Beyond pure math, my coursework was applicable to biology, logic, physics, economics, and statistics. More importantly, math taught me how to think, greatly improving my ability to express myself logically. Thanks to accessible, supportive, and skilled faculty, the opportunities afforded a Duke math major are unparalleled.“ Elliott Wolf, J.D. candidate, Stanford Law School; President, Duke Student Government; Duke PRUV Fellow read more about Elliott Wolf, J.D. candidate »
“The benefits of pursuing a mathematics degree at Duke University are endless. As a math major, I developed a logical and analytical mindset that has assisted me within the academic, professional and personal realms of life. I learned to identify the implicit assumptions within a problem or situation, break it down into a series of steps and critically think about viable solutions available through an analytic lens. Due to these acquired skill sets, job acquisition was made that much easier, as I was easily able to portray… read more about Taiesha Abrams, Consultant »
"For the first few weeks of Math 32, my first class at Duke, I felt intimidated and unsure by the difficulty and the rigor of the subject matter. I had considered quitting math altogether, but because I had a passion for it, I decided to try out a few more courses. Fifteen math classes later, I am very grateful for my decision to stick it out; it has been one of the most rewarding experiences of my life. Math at Duke, with the aid of the faculty, has taught me to approach and break down, step by step, any problem with solid… read more about Jeremy Semko, PhD candidate »
"Majoring in math has taught me to think logically and learn conceptually. For instance, constructing proofs helped me develop abstract thinking skills, which can in turn foster a very valuable internal problem-solving method that can be used for life. By exposing me to entirely new problems under pressure, it helped me develop the confidence and problem-solving abilities that are necessary for success in the fast-paced world of finance. The professors, aside from being world-class, are very accessible and always willing to… read more about Matt Moore, Fixed Income Exotics Trading »
"Mathematics is a beautiful subject, and Duke is a fantastic place for it. What really sticks in my mind about the faculty at Duke is how delighted they were to work with students, and how eager professors were to take time out of their schedules to answer questions. Additionally, the best academic experience I had while at Duke consisted of my senior thesis project. I worked on a problem that was very interesting to me, and the enthusiastic mentorship I received greatly enhanced my undergraduate experience.” Aaron Pollack… read more about Aaron Pollack, PhD candidate »