Oxford Mathematics

Computers have long been useful for studying mathematical problems. But recently computer techniques have been used to prove new theorems in geometry, specifically related to the study of gravity through Einstein's theory of General Relativity.

Book: www.maths.ox.ac.uk/node/80393

Robin Wilson's series on the equations that made mathematics combines history, personality and puzzles, all mixed together to produce the magic that is mathematics.

In episode 11 we're doing what mathematicians have always loved to do: drawing.

Watch: youtu.be/RsPjVwhgbww

To go wide or to cut inside, that is the question.

What we do when we don't have maths to do.

It's a family affair.

A lot of learning is a lovely thing, as the saying doesn't go. Take Christiana Mavroyiakoumou's Mathematical Physiology course, for example. Something to learn for the mathematician and non-mathematician alike.

Lecture 7: wave propagation in neurons: youtu.be/m0U-sePlrn0

And nothing else?

Analogue is the new digital. And what could be more analogue than the Platonic and Archimedean solids. And footballs.

Digitally detox (looks great on TV) with the 13-minute story of polyhedra: youtu.be/4rBkskqB_8s

Our students travel from all over the world to study mathematics in Oxford; our current first years are from 34 different countries.

Angie clocks up over 10,000 miles each way. Ain't it good to be alive?

We're on to lecture 6 in Christiana Mavroyiakoumou's Mathematical Physiology course which is proving very popular on YouTube. Credit to Christiana because she stepped in to replace Ian Griffiths who suffered an injury and failed a late fitness test.

Watch: youtu.be/STN_Z5PYP6A

Everybody has a story, short, medium and long. Here are two.

Everyone's got an opinion on AI (including AI). But what about someone who not only uses it, but whose job is to carry out research into AI?

Here's Ben Walker.

When it comes to the brain's conservation of energy, practice makes perfect.

Watch Dani Bassett's lecture on our brain's neural system function and its implications for health, disease and neural computation.

Online now: youtu.be/7uGxRE7kmHI

The past isn't a foreign country on social media; it's an eternal present.

So we made @joshuabull.bsky.social take his exams all over again.

How about a bit of C(n, k) = C(n − 1, k) + C(n − 1, k − 1)?

Our latest story of equations takes us to arrangements and combinations of objects, from Bhaskara via Pascal to the Manhattan Problem. Bitesize history, bitesize maths. A Sunday roast.

Watch: youtu.be/g0NVXbq9j5s

No words required.

Christiana writing at the whiteboard

For those of you still hanging in there, we're up to lecture five in Christiana Mavroyiakoumou's fab (even if we say so ourselves) Mathematical Physiology fourth year undergraduate course.

Here's the full five: www.youtube.com/playlist?lis...

There are many tips on how to be healthy. What you eat (or don't), what you do (or don't), who you see (or don't). But underlying it all is our internal clock, the circadian cycle coordinating our daily lives, human and animal. Timing is everything.

Book: www.maths.ox.ac.uk/node/80197

"O sleep, O gentle sleep,
Nature's soft nurse, how have I frightened thee,
That thou no more will weigh my eyelids down,
And steep my senses in forgetfulness?"

Mathematics perhaps?

'Thorough preparation, engaging delivery, active learning, supported by clear, visual-aided, well-structured content.'

But enough of Google AI. For a good student lecture, how about the human touch?

Watch lecture 4 of Christiana's Mathematical Physiology course: youtu.be/0d2gt5MV8-c

The Academy for the Mathematical Sciences has announced its first cohort of fellows, 100 in total from academia, teaching, science communication and business. Twelve of those fellows are from Oxford.

Who's who: www.maths.ox.ac.uk/node/80068

Prime Numbers. The Greeks had a sieve for them.

Watch Robin Wilson's short talk on mathematicians' often unequal struggle to get a handle on the primes: youtu.be/KAosh9QEfRY

What do our Oxford Mathematics students do in their spare time?

Well, much the same as everyone else. Music, gym, bit of yoga, organising events, impersonating farmyard animals.

Our latest Mathematical Physiology lecture is giving our whiteboards a real workout as Christiana talks active transport mechanisms and the Nernst and resting potentials. The third of eight we're making public.

Get active: youtu.be/46-9xLkrN5w

What percentage of a mathematician's time is spent in a state of frustration? Or, indeed, any scientist? 10%? 30%? Higher?

Oxford Mathematician Torkel Loman puts a number on it.

Robin Wilson's seventh talk on the equations that make mathematics brings us to the algebra of logic, starting with the laws of arithmetic, moving to the foundations of logic and set theory and finishing with the beginnings of computers. Fun for all ages.

youtu.be/atB4vrFy79M

We all have to compromise and it starts right at the top with our brains.

Dani Bassett will demonstrate how the principle of network economy informs our study of neural system function in health and disease and provides a lens on neural computation.

Book: www.maths.ox.ac.uk/node/79854

Doncha love AI!! So clever! Does all your work in, like, one nanosecond! It's, like, your bestie!!

Doncha hate AI?? Thinks it's so clever! But you can't trust it! Never used it myself.

Christiana's first Mathematical Physiology lecture was so popular (aside from the occasional comment that university teaching isn't what it was in Isaac Newton's day etc.) that we'd thought you tell you that the second lecture is now available.

youtu.be/3u1GSYOQEL8

It's tough, isn't? Probably one of the biggest challenges for mathematicians of all ages. Just how do you talk about your subject to friends and family who aren't mathematical?

Our crack team of undergraduates ponder.

You know those annoying social media films where a mic is shoved in front of a bunch of students and they're asked questions that have nothing to do with their studies or their lives, hoping they say something vaguely funny or interesting that might get a billion views on TikTok?