Invited Speakers (Titles (will) have hyper-text links to abstracts).


Abstracts

CRYPTOGRAPHY AND THE BENEFITS OF IGNORANCE
Professor Nigel Boston - University of Illinois at Urbana Champaign
Friday, March 17, 2000 1:35 P.M. E104
Abstract: Electronic commerce requires the transmission of private information over public channels.  Mathematically-based public-key cryptosystems have been developed for this purpose, but they all share one potentially disturbing feature, namely that our peace of mind depends on an eavesdropper's inability to solve some hard math problem.  I shall describe society's increasing dependency on number theory and whether we can sleep soundly in light of some recent advances.

SOAP BUBBLE GEOMETRY CONTEST
Professor Frank Morgan - Williams College
Friday, March 17, 2000, 7:00 - 8:00, Room E104 of Moench Hall.

Abstract:  Mathematicians are just beginning to understand soap bubbles on their way to understanding the universe. This guessing contest includes demonstrations, explanations, and prizes.

DOUBLE BUBBLE CONJECTURE
Professor Frank Morgan - Williams College
Saturday, March 18, 2000,  9:30-10:30 Room E104 of Moench Hall.

Abstract: A single round soap bubble provides the least-area way to enclose a given volume of air. The Double Bubble Conjecture says that the familiar double soap bubble provides the least-area way to enclose and separate two given volumes of air. A few years ago media attention focused on the announcement by Hass, Hutchings, and Schlafly of a computer proof for the case of equal volumes, which can be traced back to work by undergraduates. Now there are rumors of a proof of the general case in R3, and an extension to R4 by undergraduates.