Jedi Training: What it's like to be a postgraduate mathematics research
studentJon Xu
University of Melbourne/University of Western Australia
The Cast
Myself- MPhil student
from USyd(-> PhD)
Prof. Arun Ram,Principal Supervisor,
Unimelb
A/Prof. John Bamberg,Co-Supervisor, UWA
The Hunt
Some generalized polygons
The DoilyThe Fano Plane
Meeting Arun Ram
Admission and Funding
'Algebraising' Geometry
René Descartes: 1596-1650
Arrival at Melbourne:1st September 2012
Getting to know the mathematics community
Visitor: Kevin PurbhooFrom the University of Waterloo, Canada
Learning to write mathematics
Getting Feedback
Denmark – March 2013
Slowly learning finite geometry
• PRIMA 2013
• First Approximations
Einstein on the Beach and Repetition
Mindfulness Meditation and removing the ego
What does my work involve?
Using symbols to study symmetry.
Why do I want to become mathematician?
It's the only thing I can do well that will keep me from getting bored.
But then, why should I get paid?
Curiosity based research has a tendency to progress humanity (amongst other things)
Isaac Newton1642-1727 Discovers:
-Calculus (along with Leibniz)
-Law of gravitation-Optics
Motivated by:Curiosity.
More specific to mathematics:Finding the 'right' way to do things
~300 years later
Euclid's 'Elements' ~300B.C.
~2000 years later
The 'right' proof might look something like...
Disgust