Colloquium: Determinism and Randomness
October 1, 2026 11:00 am
Vaughn Climenhaga, UNC Charlotte
Kirby-Manchester 016
When we roll a pair of dice, their motion follows deterministic laws, but we generally accept that the outcome is unpredictable, even to the person who rolled them. A mathematical framework with which to study the appearance of randomness in this and other deterministic systems is provided by the use of ergodic theory in hyperbolic dynamics. I will describe some of the core ideas involved, and the way in which mathematical tools from statistical mechanics play a central role.
Host: Dr. Fan Yang []
American Mathematical Competitions 10 and 12
November 5 & 13, 2026
The Department of Mathematics at Wake Forest University is hosting
- AMC10/12 A: November 5th, 2026, Time/Location TBD
- AMC10/12 B: November 13, 2026, Time/Location TBD
We invite high school students in the piedmont area of North Carolina to participate in these annual contests sponsored by Mathematical Association of America. Due to the limited openings available, please contact the contest manager Dr. Bozlee (bozlees (at) wfu.edu) at your earliest convenience. The contest is free for students.
A donation of $10 is recommended to the math department to cover partial cost. Follow the link (https://forms.secure.wfu.edu/giving) and select `I would like to specify a different fund/department’ and enter Mathematics.) For more information on competitions, visit MAA’s contest site:
https://maa.org/student-programs/amc/