Fall 2012

• September 14
  

  Klay Kruczek 
  SCSU Mathematics
  
  Tic-Tac-Toe: History, Chickens, Draws and Bigger Boards
  
  In this talk, we'll give a brief history of Tic-Tac-Toe and discuss how people are training chickens to play (and win) the game. Next, we will consider the Tic-Tac-Toe game played on a board of size N^d. If one plays the standard 3 x 3 Tic-Tac-Toe enough, one learns the 2nd player's best hope is for a draw. The same is true on the N^d board. We will concern ourselves with Player 2's ability to force a Pairing Strategy Draw (PSD), where he is able to pair off a subset of the points so that each winning line is assigned its own pair of points. In particular, for a fixed dimension d, for what values of N does this pairing strategy exist?

• September 28
  No Seminar
• October 12
  Vince Breslin
  SCSU, Science Education and Environmental Studies
  
  Legacy and Emerging Contaminants in Long Island Sound: Are We Fouling Our Own Nest?
  
  This seminar will explore the environmental consequences of the industrialization and urbanization of the Long Island Sound (LIS) watershed and its impacts on the sediment and biota. Center for Coastal and Marine Studies faculty and students have characterized Connecticut harbor sediments for contaminants including mercury and copper and are examining the accumulation of these metals in LIS oysters and fish. Have we exceeded harmful thresholds for these metals in LIS sediments? Are fish and shellfish harvested from LIS safe for human consumption? As society remediates past harmful industrial discharges to the air and water we also need to be concerned about the introduction of new classes of chemicals that may be equally harmful to LIS marine resources. What are we discharging today from our industries or flushing down the toilets and sinks of our homes that pose a future threat to LIS?
• October 26
  George Hart
  Mathematician and Artist
  
  How Mathematics Leads to Sculpture
  
  George Hart will present and discuss examples of his mathematically informed sculptures, which generally apply computer technology in their design and/or fabrication. These include works made of metal, wood, plastic, or found objects, and often use laser-cutting, plasma-cutting or 3D-printing technologies in their realization. Mathematical and computer science aspects of these designs and their underlying foundations will be discussed. Physical examples will be on hand for people to see and enjoy.
• November 2
  Gerald Lesley
  SCSU Chemistry
  
  Palladium Catalyzed Preparation of Biaryl Derivatives for Metal Organic
  Framework Synthesis
• November 9
  Hank Gruner
  VP of Programs and Exhibits at the Connecticut Science Center
  
  What is Science?
  
  Communicating science to general audiences based on a science center's experiences using a variety of exhibit and program formats to reach audiences from preK to adults.
• November 30
  Christopher Varney
  Postdoctoral Fellow,  University of Massachusetts - Amherst
  
  Frontiers in Quantum Mechanics: Topological Insulators and Quantum Spin Liquids
  
  In this seminar we will explore two of the hottest areas in condensed
  matter physics: topological insulators and quantum spin liquids.
  Topological insulators, which are characterized by their
  unusual surface properties, have the potential to be used in
  discovering a new type of particle, the Majorana fermion. Quantum spin
  liquids, on the other hand, have local magnetic moments which do not
  order even at absolute zero! How can we identify and pinpoint these
  exotic phases in theoretical models and real materials? In this talk,
  I will demonstrate how quantum information can be used to identify
  these phases in simple models, providing a theoretical foundation for
  investigating new mechanisms which can stabilize these states of
  matter.