Clavius Activities at Boston College Summer of 2011

Clavius group at Boston College in 2011

List of Clavius mathematicians

Jennifer Ackerman
Michael Ackerman
Tom Banchoff
Adam Bartoszek
John Blanton
Tom Cecil
Lawrence Conlon
Pedro Ferreira SJ
Margaret Freije
Richard Freije
Kathy Hall
James Heitsch
Michele Intermont
Ron Knill
Javier Leach SJ
Jack Lutts

Maura Mast
Michael May SJ
John Poluikis CSB
Sr Barbara Reynolds SDS
Patrick Ryan
Paul Schweitzer SJ
Dennis Snow
Joanne Snow
James Stasheff
William Stoeger SJ
Pedro Suarez SJ
Andrius Tamulis
Carlos Vasco
Nelson Velandia SJ
Julio Vidaurrazaga
Pawel Walczak
Andrew Whitman SJ

Invited Colleagues 2011

Thomas Kiley, George Mason University
Tomoko Kitagawa, Harvard University
Renée Laverdière, Rice University
Martin Magid, Wellesley College
Oscar Perdomo, Central Connecticut State University
Thunwa Theerakarn, Brown University
Da Young Yoon, Brown University
Palle Yourgrau, Brandeis University

Clavius Community Notes

2011 Boston College, Chestnut Hill, Massachusetts
Meeting #49: 25 June to 23 July

At the invitation of Boston College and its Department of Mathematics, the Clavius group gathered at Boston College for its forty-ninth session. Through the efforts of Sol Friedberg (Department Chair), we were provided with offices in Carney Hall and lecture rooms in Carney, Fulton, Higgins and Campion Halls. As in 2007, we were housed in Gabelli Hall. A lounge on the fourth floor was used for daily Mass and a large meeting on the second floor for social hours, spiritual discussions, and evening meals. This was an ideal setting for us to continue our vibrant community life. The participants this summer consisted of seven Jesuits, one Salvatorian sister, eight married couples, and three single lay persons. Twenty Clavius mathematicians participated in the lectures and seminars along with several faculty members from Boston College and other colleges and universities.

Faith Discussions 2011

July 11, Writing as a spiritual practice in later life, led by Ellen Ryan.
July 18, Meeting and discussion with Fr. John Piderit SJ, on teaching mathematics at Catholic institutions of higher education.

Symposium on Mathematics and Religious Discourse
Faith, Science and Mathematics

Wednesday, July 13, 2011

Program
The Ontological Proof for the existence of God
Pedro Guimarães Ferreira, SJ
Pontifical Catholic University, Rio de Janeiro

Mathematical and Religious Truth
Javier Leach, SJ
Complutense University, Madrid

Beauty in Mathematical Discovery and the Encounter with God
Paul Schweitzer, SJ
Pontifical Catholic University, Rio de Janeiro

A historical approximation to philosophy of mathematics
Pedro Suarez, SJ
Barry University and Belem Jesuit Preparatory School, Miami

On the pernicious influence of mathematics: Some advice from Gödel and Rota
Palle Yourgrau
Brandeis University

Seminars 2011

Working Seminar on the Geometry of Physics

Participants: Andrew Whitman, Nelson Velandia, John Lutts, Pedro Suarez, John Blanton, Carlos Vasco, Julio Vidaurrazaga.
Topic: Geodesics as treated in Theodore Frankel’s book, The Geometry of Physics, Cambridge University Press, 2nd edition.

Differential Geometry Seminar

June 29, 30, July 1, 5, 6, 18, 19: Patrick Ryan, Shape operators of tubes using Jacobi fields
June 30: Oscar Perdomo (Central Connecticut State University), Hypersurfaces of space forms with constant mean curvature and two principal curvatures
July 1: Maura Mast, Characterizations of Heisenberg-like Lie algebras
July 8: Martin Magid (Wellesley College), The Björling problem for timelike surfaces in Lorentz three space
July 11, 12, 14, 15: Thomas Cecil, Cartan’s identity for isoparametric hypersurfaces
July 18: Paul Schweitzer, Positively curved hypersurfaces of Hⁿ x R — thesis of Ines Silva de Oliveira

Mathematical Education Seminar

July 12: Barbara Reynolds, Integrating faith and values into mathematics
July 14: Barbara Reynolds, Points of Intersection: Explorations in plane geometry using The Geometer’s Sketchpad
July 19: Michael May, Teaching Business Calculus using Excel

Special Topics Seminar

June 30: Renée Laverdière, Introduction to Teichmüller theory — Complex projective structures
July 5: Thomas Banchoff, Boscovich’s Center of Area and Center of Length
July 5: Thunwa Teerakarn (Brown University), The centers of magnitude in higher dimensions
July 5: Do Young Yoon (Brown University), Triple tangencies for space polygons
July 5: Javier Leach, Questions on mathematics and beyond
July 7: Ellen Ryan, Choose to age with spirit
July 8: Palle Yourgrau (Brandeis University), Untimely thoughts: What Gödel told Einstein about relativity
July 8: Thomas Kiley (George Mason University), Does the Level of No Motion always exist?
July 11: Paul Schweitzer, Reflections on Wigner’s essay “The unreasonable effectiveness of mathematics in the natural sciences”
July 11: Javier Leach, Mathematics, Metaphysics and Theology
July 12: Nelson Velandia, Study of stability of circular orbits of test particles in the Reissner-Nordström space-time
July 14: Carlos Vasco, Models and theories in mathematics and science
July 15: Tomoko Kitagawa (Harvard University), The first line: Carlos Spinola (1564-1622) and the Book of Division (1624)
July 18: Sol Friedberg (Boston College), Ice models and automorphic forms
July 19: Richard Freije (Sun Life Company), The first amemdment, technology, and the rights of students