Math Community Guide: 2022 Pi Mu Epsilon Ceremony

Pi Mu Epsilon
Mathematics Honor Society
Massachusetts Gamma Chapter
Bridgewater State University

Abigail Adams

Nicholas J. Almeder

Mackenzie Anderson

Austin Araujo

Morgan Brown

Justin Carpender

Elizabeth Cedarstrom

Emily Cloutier

Hayden Davis

Olivia Dean

Siobhan M. DeLorey

Luke Donovan

Kate Elizabeth Faria

Catherine Ferris

Kent Loc

Zacharia Longinidis

Julianne Maia

Melissa Mejia

Jade Monte

Alanna Nucci

Alexandra Karen Riendeau

Kelsey A. Shurtleff

Julia Thomas

Hailey Thornton

Sarah Varney

Carolina Velasquez

Sarah Weber

Historic Documents

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2022 Abramson Colloquium, Departmental Awards, and
Pi Mu Epsilon Induction Ceremony

Sunday, April 24, 2022,  3:00 PM
Held Virtually via Zoom

Induction Ceremony

Introduced by
Dr. Andrew Miller

Presiders 
Melissa Mejia and Sarah Varney

Abramson Colloquium

Can you Hear the Fundamental Frequency of a Drum using Probability?

Presented by
Dr. Phanuel Mariano

Assistant Professor of Mathematics at Union College

Join Zoom Meeting

https://bridgew.zoom.us/j/97938353370

Meeting ID: 979 3835 3370

Abstract

In Mark Kac’s famous 1966 paper, he asked “Can you hear the shape of a drum?” The precise question being, if you heard the full list of overtones and frequencies while you were blindfolded, would you be able to tell the shape of the drumhead in some mathematical way? The problem I will primarily speak about is in regards to how the fundamental frequency of a drum and probability theory are related. This connection to drums will be through a mathematical model called Brownian motion, which is a mathematical model for the random movement of a particle. It was first observed by Robert Brown in 1827 while looking at pollen grains through a microscope. Come to the talk if you want to find out the answers to these questions! This talk is based on joint work with Rodrigo Bañuelos and Jing Wang.

Biography

Dr. Mariano began his academic career at Western Connecticut State University graduating in 2012 and moving on to the University of Connecticut where he studied probability theory, analysis, and sub-Riemannian Geometry under the direction of Dr. Masha Gordina. During his time at UConn Dr. Mariano also dedicated much of his time to the students. For three summers he taught for UConn’s BRIDGE program which brings traditionally underrepresented students pursuing engineering to UConn prior to their first semester for an intense five-week preparation program. During the same time, he was also a mentor for UConn’s NSF supported research experience for undergraduates where Dr. Mariano led research groups of three students over a ten-week period. These experiences among many others culminated with being awarded the Outstanding Graduate Teaching Award from UConn’s Center for Excellence in Teaching and Learning, a university wide award given to two graduate students each year. Dr. Mariano was also awarded a graduate community building award as well as the Neumann Dissertation Award for the top dissertation in the mathematics department. Upon graduating Dr. Mariano studied at Purdue University under Dr. Rodrigo Bañuelos further expanding his PhD work. He also has held an appointment at the University of New Haven in Connecticut until his current position as an assistant professor at Union College in New York. Dr. Mariano is an avid college basketball fan, his first year at UConn being when the Women’s and Men’s team won the college basketball championship. He also enjoys spending time with family and friends back in Connecticut.

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