Department Colloquium

12:00 - 12:50 PM, Wednesday, October 4, Gildemeister 155

Refreshments served beforehand Gildemeister 135. 

Dynamic Neural Field Modeling   Dr. Joe Ambrose University of Iowa/Fastenal WSU Alumnus

Dynamic field theory provides an explanation for how the brain gives rise to behavior via the coordinated activity of populations of neurons. Dynamic Neural Field models use differential equations to abstract and describe the activity patterns and interactions of such neural populations. In this way, one can simulate and visualize processes such as attention, memory, and change detection, across one or more dimensions such as spatial position or color. These models have been used in a variety of disciplines - from Psychology and Physiology to Robotics. In this talk, I will introduce the motivation, fundamental concepts, and positive results of Dynamic Neural Field modeling as experienced during my PhD research.

Student Study Abroad Seminar

12:00 - 12:50 PM, Wednesday, September 20, Gildemeister 155

Refreshments served beforehand Gildemeister 135. 

My Semester Abroad in Ghana   Stacey Miertschin

Last semester Stacey studied abroad in Ghana, West Africa, at the University of Cape Coast. Through amazing days and rough days, she learned a great deal both in and out of the classroom about herself, others, and the world around us. She will share her experiences and encourage others to study abroad.

Student Seminar

12:00 - 12:50 PM, Wednesday, September 6, Gildemeister 155

Refreshments served beforehand Gildemeister 135. 

 

Understanding Elliptic Curves in the Cryptographic World Michael Holmblad
Cryptography is a topic that can get really complex very fast. Every cryptographic system is based on some type of problem. Elliptic curve cryptography is based on the discrete log problem using elliptic curves. Elliptic curves have their own group and field properties. The algorithms that come from elliptic curve cryptography are simple to follow, but hard to crack. Elliptic curve cryptography also has several successes and challenges in the corporate world.
On the Algebra of Rotations in ℝ3: An Exploration of Representations by Quaternions and SU(2)  Nick Meyer
	The need to represent rotations of objects in 3-D Euclidean space arises daily in many fields: animation, computer vision, and physics, to name a few. Ever since Euler first described his eponymous angles, without giving a tractable method for constructing them, mathematicians have longed for a better system to describe rotations. In 1843, William Rowan Hamilton had an epiphany whilst walking across Brougham Bridge in Dublin with his wife. Therein he inscribed the laws defining the quaternions, forever changing the face of rotations. The quaternions, when limited to having unit norm, form a group under multiplication which is isomorphic to SU(2). This presentation will discuss the interplay between these two groups and will clarify the use of quaternions to represent rotations. We will delve into the relationship between SU(2) and SO(3).