Unfair first-year calculus problems, with applications
Topic
A typical first-year calculus problem is the evaluation of
The answer is arcsin(x). What about evaluating
This problem is unfair in the context of first-year calculus because the answer is not expressible algebraically in terms of the “basic” transcendental functions (exp, log, sin, cos, arcsin, …). But the fundamental theorem of calculus says that this problem does have an answer. This answer (actually, its inverse) is part of the family of elliptic functions. Over sandwiches and pop, we will discuss the beautiful algebra and geometry associated with elliptic functions and take a quick tour through some of the many areas in which elliptic functions are applied.
Speakers
Additional Information
The Pacific Institute for the Mathematical Sciences is grateful for the support of Shell Canada Limited, Alberta Advanced Education and Technology, and the University of Calgary for their support of this series of lectures.
Dr Matthew Greenberg, Mathematics and Statistics, University of Calgary
