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What's the most interesting thing you have learned this year in maths?

I did some work in dimensional analysis in second semester, and I find it amazing that from some basic knowledge and a photo of the explosion, we can estimate the energy released from the first atomic bomb explosion. You can read this if you are interested: http://www.atmosp.physics.utoronto.ca/people/codoban/PHY138/Mechanics/dimensional.pdf

So what's the most interesting thing you have learned this year? It can be anything at all from any level of mathematics. :smile:

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Reply 1

midgetspinner

The Fibonacci sequence is quite interesting and its links to the financial markets

Reply 2

HelpusPleasus

Calculating the Age of the Universe from Hubble's Constant.

Reply 3

poorform

Abel's impossibility theorem: There is no solution in radicals to polynomial equations of degree five or higher with arbitrary coefficients. Probably because it took a lot of machinery and was built up for ages and ages just to arrive at this result that I was aware of for a while but never had any idea why. (tbh I am still trying to fully understand it so maybe I can't say I have learned it rather learning it). I remember being told a story by someone at Warwick that GI Taylor shocked everyone by telling them how powerful the bomb just on the back of a piece of paper and they didn't know how to react because they thought they had kept it highly classified and didn't realise it was possible to estimate haaaa.

Reply 4

username937760

I would probably say the Baire Category Theorem. Not a massively high tech result but so useful, and with some very pretty consequences.

Reply 5

fefssdf

when you have e^-n, as n approaches infinity then e^-n approaches 0 but don't understand at all why....

Reply 6

HapaxOromenon3

Original post by fefssdf

when you have e^-n, as n approaches infinity then e^-n approaches 0 but don't understand at all why....

e^(-n) = 1/e^n.
Now, as n approaches infinity, the e^n approaches infinity - you can see this by considering the graph y=e^x, which continuously increases as x increases.
Thus 1/e^n approaches 1/infinity, i.e. zero.

Reply 7

fefssdf

Original post by HapaxOromenon3

ohhhh interesting - thanks for clearing this up aha

Reply 8

xboc

Original post by fefssdf

when you have e^-n, as n approaches infinity then e^-n approaches 0 but don't understand at all why....

e^-n = 1/(e^n)

so when n approaches infinity, e^n also approaches infinity

1 divided by a very big number (a.k.a infinity) is 0

so 1/(e^n) approaches 0

Reply 9

fefssdf

Original post by lyamlim97

e^-n = 1/(e^n)

so when n approaches infinity, e^n also approaches infinity

1 divided by a very big number (a.k.a infinity) is 0

so 1/(e^n) approaches 0

thanks yo ! :biggrin:

Reply 10

math42

Most of it was just fairly interesting and not close to mindblowing. I guess the Riemann Series Theorem was the best. Most of analysis 2 (dealing with continuity, differentiation, power series) was very interesting to me but nothing sticks out.

Reply 11

drandy76

Nothing I did this year was particularly interesting, although I am enjoying learning about group theory atm, especially cyclic groups

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Reply 12

The Joker ~

2 + 2 = fish!!
YAY!!
:3

Reply 13

Monarch1952

Runge-Katta methods for numerically solving complex ordinary differential equations. :biggrin:

Reply 14

RDKGames

Study Forum Helper

Pretty much all the A2 pure modules I did this year. (and M3 relative velocity)

Reply 15

Trapz99

I learned about binomial and Poisson distributions. I have really begun to enjoy statistics.

(I'm still at school not at uni)

Reply 16

Monarch1952

Statistics rules :smile:

I'm technically not at uni yet either, but I'm studying maths/stats

Reply 17

Student403

nothing -.-

I wish the syllabus was better

Reply 18

rayquaza17

Original post by Student403

nothing -.-

I wish the syllabus was better

Are you doing GCSE, A Level, or Uni? :smile:

Reply 19

Student403

Original post by rayquaza17

Are you doing GCSE, A Level, or Uni? :smile:

Just finished A2 - I really liked the dimensional analysis you posted. Learnt a much more basic version of that this year.. Shame school didn't teach it