Simon Fraser University

We study a natural process for allocating m balls into n bins that are organized as the vertices of an undirected graph G. Balls arrive one at a time. When a ball arrives, it first chooses a vertex u in G uniformly at random. Then the ball performs a...

Very large data sets lead naturally to the development of very complex models --- often models with more adjustable parameters than data. This has led very recently to a rapidly growing body of work in the development and analysis of formal...

Phytoplankton moving in the ocean, sperm moving through the reproductive tract, as well as swimming fish rely on an intricate balance of forces. Each such system involves the interaction of passive and actuated elastic structures with a surrounding...

The flow of ice from the interior of polar ice sheets is the primary contributor to projected sea level rise. One of the main difficulties faced in modeling ice sheet flow is the uncertain spatially-varying Robin boundary condition that describes the...

In 1887, Hoelder proved that the Gamma Function, defined by the difference equation y(x+1) = x y(x), satisfies no nonzero polynomial differential equation with complex coefficients. In the last several years Galois theories have been developed that...

Continuing with the usual format of past years this event will consist of talks given by six students (three from UBC and three from SFU) and two professors (one from each university). The seminar also contains important social components, namely the...

Discrete mathematics plays a central role in modern mathematics. This is in large part due to the work of Ron Graham. His work has spanned over five decades and includes over 300 published papers, 5 books, countless talks and editorial assignments...

Interesting mathematics arises in many areas of the study of sea ice and its role in climate. Partial differential equations, numerical analysis, dynamical systems and bifurcation theory, diffusion processes, percolation theory, homogenization and...