The Heart Equation and the Mathematics of Love

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Link:
http://raffysaldana.blogspot.com/2009/02/heart-equation-and-mathematics-of-love.html

Today (2/08/09) I joined the group "I Heart Mathematics" on Facebook. The group features a nice graph of the heart equation (see graphics above).

Then I started an interesting discussion (on Facebook) on the connection between Love and Mathematics. My purpose is to make my students appreciate the beauty of Mathematics and to show that Mathematics can be fun.

Here are some examples:

"The equation is another way of saying that love can sometimes be complicated..."

"It also implies that Love can be quantified..."

"Another implication of the Love equation is that Love has symmetry..."

"Love is not a FUNCTION, it is a RELATION..."

"Love is REAL; it is not IMAGINARY..."

"Love has an ABSOLUTE VALUE..."

"Love is a UNION and an INTERSECTION not a SEPARATION OF VARIABLES..."

"LOVE = [PERSON1 (union) PERSON2] && PERSON1 (intersection) PERSON2]..."

"I wish you were sine squared theta and I was cosine squared theta so together we could be one..."

I would like to hear more contributions from readers...

Cheers,

Raffy

http://raffysaldana.blogspot.com/

3rd International Conference on Scientific Computing and Partial Differential Equations (Hong Kong)

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The Third International Conference on Scientific Computing and Partial Differential Equations
December 8-12, 2008
Hong Kong Baptist University, Hong Kong

Background:

It is our intention to organize a well respected international conference series on Scientific Computing and Partial Differential Equations in Hong Kong. The first of this conference series was held in December 2002 and the second conference was held in September 2005. More details about these conferences can be viewed at
http://www.math.hkbu.edu.hk/SCPDE02/ and http://www.math.hkbu.edu.hk/SCPDE05/

Both conferences were held at the Hong Kong Baptist University, well attended by international experts in respective disciplines and were found highly successful in providing a forum for the exchange of ideas, and latest results within a multi-disciplinary setting. Many top scientists in the area of scientific computing, including Academicians from America, Europe and China, attended the conferences and presented their research results. A conference proceeding for the first conference was published in American Mathematical Society's Contemporary Mathematics series, a prestigious volume series of AMS. The second conference proceeding was published in Science Press series, a specialized publisher for such conference proceedings.

Objective:

The Third International Conference on Scientific Computing and Partial Differential Equations series aims to promote research interests in scientific computation. We would like to review recent scientific developments and to explore exciting new directions in scientific computing and partial differential equations for time-dependent problems and its interaction with other fields.
There have been very rapid developments of Scientific Computing in Hong Kong, in part due to the research carried out within the Mathematics Department at the Hong Kong Baptist University, and increasing interest from sister departments in other higher education institutions in Hong Kong. As Hong Kong transforms herself into a high-tech industrial region, the need for scientific computing will rise dramatically, as scientific computing is commonly acknowledged to provide a third arm to research; the other arms being theoretical and experimental techniques.

Plenary Speakers:

Zhaojun Bai
University of California, Davis, USA
Gang Bao
Michigan State University, USA
Michele Benzi
Emory University, USA
Hermann Brunner
Hong Kong Baptist University
Wei Cai
Stanford University, USA
Jin Cheng
Fudan University, China
Weng-Cho Chew
University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong
Patrick L. Combettes
Université Pierre et Marie Curie - Paris 6, France
Heinz W. Engl
University of Linz, Austria
Ernst Hairer
Université de Genève, Switzerland
Jan S. Hesthaven
Brown University, USA
Ming-Chih Lai
National Chiao Tung University, Taiwan
Liqun Qi
Hong Kong Polytechnic University, Hong Kong
Jianxian Qiu
Nanjing University, China
Eugene Tyrtyshnikov
Russian Academy of Sciences, Russia
Jianhong Wu
York University, Canada
Dongbin Xiu
Purdue University, USA
Masahiro Yamamoto
University of Tokyo, Japan

Invited Speakers:

Image processing

Qianshun Chang
Chinese Academy of Sciences
Thierry Blu
Chinese University of Hong Kong
Xavier Bresson
University of California, LA, USA
Raymond Chan
Chinese University of Hong Kong
Xue-Cheng Tai
Nanyang Technological University
Andy Ming-Ham Yip
National University of Singapore
Tieyong Zeng
CMLA, ENS-Cachan, France
Chun-li Shen
East China Normal University
Sylvain Durand
Universit de Picardie Jules Verne
Numerical methods and analysis for PDEs
Yana Di
Chinese Academy of Sciences
Tiegang Liu
Beijing University of Aeronautics
Jichun Li
University of Nevada Las Vegas, USA
Qiang Zhang
Nanjing University, China
Li Yuan
Chinese Academy of Sciences
Yanping Chen
Southern China Normal University
Qin Sheng
Baylor University, USA
Wai Sun Don
Brown University, USA
Inverse problems
James Lu
Austrian Academy of Sciences
Massimo Fornasier
Austrian Academy of Sciences
Antonio Leitão
Federal University of Santa Catarina, Brasil
Matthias Fuchs
University of Innsbruck, Austria
Tomoya Takeuchi
University of Tokyo, Japan
Numerical linear algebra
Zhong-zhi Bai
Chinese Academy of Sciences
Weiguo Gao
Fudan University
Sergei Goreynov
Moscow, INM RAS
Lars Grasedyck
TU Berlin
Ken Hayami
National Institute of Informatics
Xiao-qing Jin
University of Macau
Wen-Wei Lin
National Tsing Hua University
Ivan Oseledets
Moscow, INM RAS
Tetsuya Sakurai
University of Tsukuba
Chern-Shuh Wang
National Cheng Kung University
Organizing Committee:
Raymond Chan
Chinese University of Hong Kong
Leevan Ling
Hong Kong Baptist University
Michael Ng
Hong Kong Baptist University
Zhong-Ci Shi
Chinese Academy of Sciences, China
Chi-Wang Shu
Brown University, USA
Tao Tang
Hong Kong Baptist University

Contact Information:
SCPDE08 c/o Department of Mathematics Hong Kong Baptist University
Kowloon Tong, Hong Kong
Phone: (852) 3411-2348
Fax: (852) 3411-5811
Email:scpde08@math.hkbu.edu.hk
Webpage:http://www.math.hkbu.edu.hk/SCPDE08

Call for papers and Registration

The authors are invited to register and submit one-page abstracts for contributed talk or poster using the on-line registration form before September 15, 2008. Alternatively, please complete and mail/fax us the abstract with the attached registration form (pdf). Either way we must receive your registration fee for your registration to be complete. Submitted abstracts will be subject to a double-blind review process.Full-length papers of 15 pages should be submitted after the Symposium, prior to January 15, 2009. A special volume of a SCI journal based on this conference will be published either by Communications of Computational Physics (CiCP) or Journal of Computational Mathematics (JCM). Further information on required paper format and submission guidelines will be posted on the web site soon.The Registration Fees for each participant is US$250 or HKD$1950; the fees for each accompanying person is US$100 or HKD$780. All full-time students may register for half price. This includes: - Participation in the Conference; - A set of printed Conference Proceedings, or CD-ROM; - Refreshment Break(s) during each day of the Conference; - Welcome reception; - A Conference Banquet.

Accommodation:

We have arranged two hotels for conference participants to choose from:
Metropark Hotel Kowloon (80 rooms reserved)
Discounted rate HKD$650/night/room including 13% tax
This offer will not be available after 03 Nov, 2008
Download and complete the booking form
Send the form to Ms Anita Hung by fax: (852) 2760 3603 or email: abdm.hkkl@metroparkhotels.com
Royal Plaza Hotel (20 rooms reserved)
Discounted rate from HKD$880/night/room
This offer will not be available after 07 Nov, 2008
Download and complete the booking form
Send the form to Mr Johnson Chan by fax: (852) 2628 3383 or email: johnsonchan@royalplaza.com.hk Conference venue:
The conference will be held at the Lam Woo Conference Centre of Hong Kong Baptist University. Information Desk and Internet Access are available during the conference.


Sponsors:

The Croucher Foundation
Hong Kong Baptist University

Some useful information:

About Hong Kong
Coming and Going
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MATHMOD 2009: 6th Vienna International Conference on Mathematical Modelling (Austria)

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ANNOUNCEMENT:


The 6th Vienna International Conference on Mathematical Modelling (MATHMOD 2009) will take place during February 11 - 13, 2009 at Vienna University of Technology, Austria.

We invite you to submit a paper or to make a proposal for a special session.

All details can be found on our web site: http://www.mathmod.at/


Looking forward to welcome you in Vienna

From,

Inge TROCH
Chair IPC
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Seminar on Boundary Noise in Scalar Transport and Diffusion Equations with Applications in Biology and Biomedicine

The Ateneo de Manila University Department of Biology, Department of Mathematics, and the DOST Balik Scientist Program

cordially invites everyone to a seminar entitled

"Boundary Noise in the Scalar Transport and Diffusion Equations: with Applications in Biology and Biomedicine"

by

Vena Pearl A. Bongolan Walsh, Ph.D.
Ellis College, New York Institute of Technology
Friday, July 25, 20083:30-4:30 PM
Ching Tan Room (SOM 111)
John Gokongwei School of Management
Ateneo de Manila University

ABSTRACT

Noise in boundary conditions is an important and intriguing question to consider, since it could represent uncertainties that occur naturally, like the salinity flux of denser waters from the Mediterranean entering the relatively fresher North Atlantic via the Strait of Gibraltar, which has been observed to vary seasonally; or to mimic the nature of ventricles in the human brain as being imperfect sinks for drugs directly injected into the brain tissues.We start with modeling an ocean gravity current, from the primitive Navier-Stokes and Energy equations, to current research on the scalar transport equation evolving with noise in the boundary.

We then discuss possible applications in drug-delivery to the brain, photo-transduction and the formation of thrombi.
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Call For Papers and Entries: 4th East Asia SIAM Conference/ EASIAM Student Paper Prize

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The NIMS 2008 Conference & The 4th East Asia SIAM Conference
October 10-12 2008
National Institute for Mathematical Sciences (NIMS)
Daejon, Korea

Website: http://www.math.hkbu.edu.hk/easiamconf08/


Scientific Committee:

Zhong-Ci Shi (Chair)
Chinese Academy of Sciences (CAS), China

Pham Ky Anh
Vietnam National University

Raymond Chan
The Chinese University of Hong Kong

I-Liang Chern
National Taiwan University

Victor D. Didenko
Universitii Brunei Darussalam

Roger Hosking
Universitii Brunei Darussalam

Nguyen Van Huu
Hanoi University of Science

Xiao-qing Jin
University of Macau

Hyung-Chun Lee
Ajou University

Ping Lin
National University of Singapore

Tom Mitsui
Nagoya University

Michael Ng
Hong Kong Baptist University

Hisashi Okamoto
Kyoto University

Mohd Omar
University of Malaysia

Abdul Rahni
Universiti Sains Malaysia

Rafael P. Saldana
Ateneo de Manila University

Dongwoo Sheen
Seoul National University

Zuowei Shen
National University of Singapore

Haiwei Sun
University of Macau

Tao Tang
Hong Kong Baptist University

Organizers:

Taeyoung Ha
NIMS, Korea

Chi-Ok Hwang
NIMS, Korea

Hyung-Chun Lee
NIMS and Ajou University, Korea

Zhong-Ci Shi
Chinese Academy of Sciences, China

Tao Tang
Hong Kong Baptist University

Registration, Accommodation and Visa:
will be posted soon

Paper Submission:

Please submit your abstract online. The deadline of the submission is 15 August 2008.

EASIAM Student Paper Prize:

Principal Guidelines

The EASIAM Student Paper Prizes are awarded every year to the student author(s) of the most outstanding paper(s) submitted to the EASIAM Student Paper Competition. This award is based solely on the merit and content of the student's contribution to the submitted paper.

The purpose of the Student Paper Prizes is to recognize outstanding scholarship by students in applied mathematics or computing.

Requirements for Submission

To enter the competition, each student author must study in East or Southeast Asia, and submit:
a short vitae including his/her list of publications (at most two pages).
the complete paper.

The student's advisor must submit a letter that: describes and evaluates the paper's contribution to the literature and the student's role in the scholarship; verifies that the student meets the conditions of eligibility for the award and state the study period of the student.

Notification of Prize Winners

The EASIAM president will notify the recipient(s) at least six weeks before the award date.
Each recipient is required to present his or her paper at the EASIAM meeting where the prizes are awarded.

Description of the Award

Each recipient of the EASIAM Student Paper Prize shall receive acertificate and reimbursement of up to US$250 toward travel expenses. Up to four awards will be made each year.
Please direct your submission and any questions you have to Tang Tao (The Chairman of EASIAM), email: ttang@hkbu.edu.hk.
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Lecture Notes in Ma 20 (Calculus): Sample Word Problem in Economics Involving the Derivative, 6/30/08

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Lecture Notes in Ma 20 (Calculus for Economics)
30 June 2008

Topic:

Sample Word Problem in Economics Involving the Derivative


Suppose that the demand set for cans of salmon is

D = {(q,p) where (p^3)q = 8000} ,

where q is the number of cans (in thousands per week) and p is the price per can in dollars.


a). If p is increased from $20 to $21, what will be the expected fall in sales, approximately?

b). If, on the other hand, production were to be increased from 1000 tins per week to 1100, what would be the expected fall in price?


SOLUTION:

The demand function q and its derivative q’ are

q(p) = 8000p^-3

q’(p) =(8000)(-3)p^-4 = -24000/p^4

a). Therefore when p = 20 and (delta)p = 1 we have

(delta)q is approximately equal to (-24000)/p^4)(delta)p = -24009/20^4 = -0.15

Remembering that the units are thousands of cans, it follows that 150 fewer cans will be sold per week.

b). In letter b, we have to consider p as a function of q, and so we need the inverse demand function and its derivative:

(p^3)q = 8000

p^3 = 8000/q

p = cuberoot of (8000/q)

p = 20q^(-1/3)

p’(q) = (-1/3)(20)q^(-4/3) = (-20/3)q^(-4/3)

So when q = 1 and (delta)q = 0.1 we have

(delta)p is approximately equal to [(-20/3)q^(-4/3)](0.1) = -2/3 or approx. 0.67

The conclusion is that the price falls by about 67 cents.

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Reference: Martin Anthony and Norman Biggs (1996). Mathematics for Eonomics and Finance. Cambridge University Press, pp. 57 - 58.
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Undergraduate Research Presentations

The following undergraduate research in mathematics were presented in a forum organized by the Mathematics Department of Ateneo de Manila University last Monday, March 10, 2008:


1. Philippine Landslide Dynamics: A Mathematical and Computational Study Using Cellular Automata and the Minimization Algorithm- Timothy James L. Yusun (4 BS-Math). Adviser: Dr. Rafael Saldaña.

2. Prediction of Crashes in the Philippine Stock Market Using Log-Periodic Analysis -- Miguel Karlo R. De Jesus (4 BSM-AMF). Adviser: Dr. Jose Marasigan.

3. A Computational Study on the Guimaras Oil Spill Dynamics Using Lattice Gas Cellular Automata, Watershed Transform and Parallel Computing --Patricia Lorenzo, Rhena Lelleen Plagata, Paolo Niccolo Santos (4 BS-AMC). Adviser: Dr. Rafael Saldaña.

4. Serial Implementation of Benjord's Law for Detecting Potential Election Fraud--Daphne Regina Toledo, Jonalyn Valencia (4 BS-AMC). Adviser: Dr. Felix Muga II.

5. An Implementation of Linsker's Neural Network Demonstrating the Emergence of Spatial-
opponent Cells in the Brain -- Rosary Anne David, Regina Marie Frez, Jade Rachele Garcia (4 BS-AMC). Adviser: Dr. Raymond Melton.

Two of the research groups were under my supervision: (1) Philippine Landslide Dynamics and (2) Guimaras Oil Spill

The undergraduate research forum was coordinated by Dr. Jumela Sarmiento.


Dr. Rafael Saldaña
Thesis Adviser
and Associate Professor
Mathematics Department
Ateneo de Manila University

Congratulations, Paolo Bugarin -- Best Student Research Awardee (Graduate Category)

Left to Right: Dr. Rafael Saldaña, Dr. Ninette de las Peñas, Paolo Bugarin, and Dr. Reginald Marcelo.

Left to Right: Dr. Norman Quimpo, Dr. Rafael Saldaña, Dr. Ninette de las Peñas, Paolo Bugarin, Dr. Reginald Marcelo, Neal Ivan Lee, Dr. Roden David

Paolo Bugarin, First Place, Graduate Student Category, Student Research Awards, School of Science and Engineering, Ateneo de Manila University.

CONGRATULATIONS to Paulo "Bugs" Bugarin, faculty member of the Mathematics Department and M.S. Mathematics student for getting the first place in the Graduate Category of the School of Science and Engineering (of Ateneo de Manila University) Awards for Outstanding Student Research.

His paper entitled "On Color Groups of Bravais Colorings of Planar Modules with Quasicrystallographic Symmetries" was chosen the best over 5 other pre-selected entries from the other departments.

Congratulations also to my colleague, Dr. Ma. Louise Ninette De Las Peñas -- Bug's adviser.

To Bugs and Ninette, we are proud of your achievement!

Cheers,

Raffy

5/7/08

Trip to Xiamen, China (Day 5)

Today (November 5, 2007) is the last day of the 3rd East Asia SIAM Conference in Xiamen University, Xiamen, China.

I was the chair of the last session.

The invited talks during 4th day of the conference include the following:

• "Mixed Finite Element Methods For General Quadrilateral Grids" by Dr. Young Kwak (Korea Advanced Institute of Science and Technology, South Korea)
  


• "Numerical Approximations To Haddamard Finite-Part Integral Operators" by Dr. Weiwei Sun (City University of Hong Kong)

• "Accurate Summation Of Floating Point Numbers And Applications" by Dr. Shin' ichi Oishi (Waseda University, Japan)
  
  
• "Some New Developments In Spectral Element Methods For Incompressible Flows" by Dr. Chuanju Xu (Xiamen University, China)
  

Invited Speakers: 3rd East Asia SIAM Conference, Xiamen, China

Photo Caption: Dr. Yoshimasa Nakamura of Kyoto, Japan -- one of the invited speakers during the 3rd East Asia SIAM Conference held on November 2 - 5, 2007 in Xiamen University, Xiamen, China.

The 3rd East Asia SIAM Conference
November 2-5, 2007

Xiamen University

Xiamen, China

Invited Speakers:

Zhiming Chen
Chinese Academy of Sciences, China

Xiao-qing Jin
University of Macau

Do Young Kwak
KAIST, Korea

Yoshimasa Nakamura
Kyoto University, Japan

Shinichi Oishi
Waseda University, Japan

Dongwoo Sheen
Seoul National University, Korea

Zuowei Shen
National University of Singapore, Singapore

Wei-wei Sun
City University of Hong Kong

Masahisa Tabata
Kyushu University, Japan

Chuanju Xu
Xiamen University, China

Pingwen Zhang
Peking University, China

Trip to Xiamen, China (Day 2)

I arrived at the Xiamen Gaoqi Airport at 4:30 p.m. yesterday (Nov. 1, 2007). I was met at the airport by representatives of the 3rd EASIAM local organizing committee. The trip (by car) from the airport to Xiamen university took around 30 minutes.

My local hosts brought me to the Xiamen University International Academic Exchange Center (which is actually a hotel) located inside the main campus of Xiamen University. When I have settled in my room, I contacted my student, Timothy James "TJ" Yusun who arrived earlier at Xiamen via Philippine Airlines. TJ and I had dinner together with other 3rd East Asia SIAM (EASIAM) conference participants at the hotel's restaurant.

Today (November 2, 2007) was the first day of the Conference. It was held at the main building of the university. Xiamen University has a very impressive campus: it has a small lake surrounded by trees and buildings. It is near hills and the sea.

PROGRAM, Day 1, November 2.

Dr. Zhong-ci Shi of the Chinese Academy of Sciences and Chairman of EASIAM gave the Welcome Remarks at 8:30 a.m. He introduced the SIAM Keynote Lecturer, Dr. Gene Golub of Stanford University (USA). Dr. Golub gave a talk on "Inner/Outer Iterations For Solving Linear Systems Of Equations."

The second speaker was Dr. Yoshimasa Nakamura of Kyoto University (Japan) who gave a talk on "mdLVs Algorithm For Computing Matrix Singular Values."

We had a group picture taking and coffee break from 10:25 to 10:50 a.m.

From 10:50 a.m. to 12:20 p.m. two invited speakers presented their talks: Dr. Dongwoo Sheen Professor of Mathematics at Seoul National University (South Korea) and Vice-Chair of EASIAM gave a talk on "Numerical Laplace Inversion With Applications To Evolution Problems." Dr. Sheen's lecture was followed by the talk of Dr. Zuowei Shen, Professor of Mathematics at the National University of Singapore, who gave a lecture on "A Unified Tight Frame Approach For Missing Data Recovery in Images."

At 12:20 p.m. we had a lunch break. The Lunch was at the restaurant of the university hotel, a short walking distance from the Main Building.

The afternoon session started at 2:00 p.m. There were three parallel sessions: One session was the presentations of the candidates for EASIAM Best Student Paper Award, namely: Alexander Shapeev ("Application of Combined Spectral And Finite Difference Method To Unsteady Viscous Flow In Canonical Domains"), Chien-Hong Cho ("On The Finite Difference Approximation For A Parabolic Blow-Up Problems"), Yu-Mei Huang ("On Preconditioned Iterative Methods For Burgers Equations"), and Shipeng Mao ("Error Estimates For Degenerate Quadrilateral Finite Elements").

The other parallel sessions were Session 1 and Session 2.

Our paper was included in Session 2.

Session 2 was held in a building near the hotel were we stayed. The paper presentors in Session 2 are as follows:

1. Dr. Hisashi Okamoto (Kyoto University, Japan), "Fluid Mechanical Blow-Up Problems: Model Equations and Numerical Computations";

2. Dr. Hyung-Chun Lee (Ajou University, South Korea), "Reduced-Oredr Modeling Of Optimal Control Problems For Navier-Stokes Equations";

3. Dr. Katsuhisa Ozaki (Waseda University, Japan), "An Efficient Method of Applying Accurate Summation Algorithms To 3D Orientation Problem"; and

4. Dr. Rafael Saldaña and Timothy James Yusun (Ateneo de Manila University), "A Study on Modeling Landslide Dynamics Using Cellular Automata and the Minimization Algorithm."

After the coffee break from 3:40 - 4:00 p.m., I attended the talks in Session 3, which included the following:

1. Dr. Victor Didenko (Univesiti Brunei Darussalam, Brunei), "Computational Approach To Solvability Of Refinement Equations";

2. Dr. Michael Ng (Hong Kong Baptist University, Hong Kong), "Computational Methods For Superresolution Imaging";

3. Dr. Abd Rahni Mt. Piah (University Sains Malaysia), "Rational Generalized Ball Functions For the Visualization Of Monotonic Data", and

4. Dr. Katsuo Takano (Ibaraki University, Japan), "On A Property Of Laplace Transforms Of Some Probability Densities."

Trip to Xiamen, China (Day 1)

Today (Nov. 1, 2007) I am leaving for Xiamen, China to attend the 3rd EASIAM Annual Conference hosted by Xiamen University.

Details of the conference are found in the following website:

http://www.math.hkbu.edu.hk/easiam_Xiamen/

This will be my fourth trip to Mainland China (excluding Hong Kong and Macau). I first visited Mainland China in October 1996 when I presented a paper at the International Conference on Ecological Engineering in Beijing. My second visit to Mainland China was during the Asia-Pacific High Performance Computing (HPC-Asia) Conference held in May 2000 in Beijing. My third visit to Mainland China was in April 2005 when I attended the ACM ICPC Regional Directors' Workshop and the 2005 ACM ICPC World Finals in Shanghai.

I will leave Manila at 2 pm via Cebu Pacific Airlines and will arrive in Xiamen at 4:20 p.m.

My student, Timothy James "TJ" Yusun, will also participate in the 3rd East Asia SIAM (EASIAM) Conference. TJ and I will present our paper "A Study on Modeling Landslide Dynamics Using Cellular Automata and the Minimization Algorithm." The schedule of our presentation is tomorrow afternoon, Nov. 2.

Cheers,

Raffy
11/1/07