I can’t understand you guys through all of that abstraction.
If I ever actually get the job title of “mathematician” or “statistician” I’d hit a backflip…even now, “guy that majored in math” is usually enough to make me people assume you’re pretty smart lol
Can this be math and science thread? I couldn’t find a science thread on SRK. Theory says that if we lived closer to the Sun then we would age slower than people on Earth. Is this correct?
I’ma just asnwer you because I always feel so incompetent when I’m in this thread.
no, because our concept of a year, is bound to the fact that we are at X miles away from the sun and because of that, there are Y number of hours in a day, and Z number of days in a year.
It would feel longer, but it’s akin to dog years. Is a dog really 114 years when it dies?
There’s been a science thread for some time now
Oh the Math thread, I guess it’s perfect timing since school is getting ready to start back up for many people.
Man I’m so glad I’m doing the Chemistry series over the Physics one. Got a friend who is taking summer Physics and omg that shit is fucking him sideways. The payoff though is that you can use your Physics series in virtually any major dealing with Math, unlike Chemistry from what I’ve seen. I still need Calc 3 this fall, go wonder…
I’m thinking about majoring in applied math, do any of you have any experience/advice/cautions?
I’m a 2nd year in college now and because of bad decisions on my part, I’ve changed majors from my first (history) to biology and I’m thinking on settling on math because bio is kinda…gay. I want to find work with a bachelors and I do plan on getting my masters eventually if I do major in math.
If you really want to go to grad school for math, kudos and good luck to you. My best recommendation to you would be to really pay attention and pick your professors’ brains. Personally, I didn’t do any of that shit, but I knew by the time I was a junior that I just wanted to finish up my credits and get the fuck out of dodge.
I don’t know much about applied math, but if your school has operations research, I would look into that. The few classes I took involving it were pretty interesting. Stochastic modeling and the such.
Operations Research (like Thrust said) and Actuarial Science are two places to look for applied math. The latter relies heavily on Probability Theory, so you need to be skilled in that area to succeed. If you can’t hack algebra, you need to learn that asap because you’re utterly screwed. You may also want to consider a major in Statistics.
I switched to Applied Math/Computer Science recently from pure math. Definitely need practice proofs more for these 400 level courses. I dropped advanced calc last semester since I was borderline C/D and it’s not a good look when I have A’s in everything else. Gotta bring my in major GPR up.
If I try to get a masters or beyond it’s definitely gonna be in Computer Science, math just hasn’t been all that interesting anymore. That said, anyone have recommendations for upper level math courses?
You might want to consider either numerical analysis or combinatorics. Either would complement your CS background well. There is also something called “experimental mathematics,” where you basically use a computer to do proofs.
If you have a strong background in number theory, I would recommend Abstract Algebra as well. If not, you should take a number theory course.
As for proofs, there is no straight answer for how to improve on that. Each problem has its own assumptions that go with it.
Sometimes, you can argue using just the definitions
Other times you can use contradiction (which is a good idea if you have something like, prove that all X are Y). A great example of this is “prove that there are an infinite number of primes.” The basic sketch is that you assume there are a finite number of primes, multiply them together, add 1 to it, and come to a contradiction.
Sometimes the contrapositive of a statement is easier to prove
Sometimes you can reduce the proof to a few cases and prove each one separately
Sometimes you can use induction. It’s a really powerful tool
Sometimes you can get lucky and see the problem as being a special case of a more encompassing theorem. e.g. someone says to prove that the set of all real numbers are closed under addition and scalar multiplication. You just respond with "the set of real numbers is a subset of complex numbers, which itself is closed under addition and scalar multiplication."
Sometimes the problem is that you pulled out your screwdriver and are looking for screws when you really have nails instead.
Sometimes, you simply did not learn the material well enough and you are doomed because that hammer was just too expensive
Sometimes, the problem is one where you are given almost enough information, but it does not reveal the one key insight needed to characterize the problem from a “hard” problem to an “easy” one.
Some problems require an entirely new skill set to solve
Other suggestions I can make:
Learn set theory WELL. You can’t really succeed without it
Look at the proofs the author does and ask why they did that.
The problem with Actuarial Science is that it’s been getting a lot of good press in media over the last few years as a great career choice based on income potential, work environment, etc. The entry level job market has become really competitive due to over-saturation. Where finishing your undergrad with a couple of accreditation exams and an internship under your belt a few years ago made you a shoe-in for any entry-level position you applied for, today it barely gets your resume a second look.
It’s a good career choice, but be prepared to really network and get to know the right people to get your foot in the door, in addition to all of the technical skills employers would expect you to have.
GPA doesn’t matter, unless you’re on academic probation.
Learning does.
You still should take calculus or other difficult math courses because it will make you more intelligent.
I think he’s talking about the calculus course most 3rd-4th year math majors take that focuses more on rigorous proof, as opposed to the freshman calc i and ii courses that are watered down versions of the former.
^This.
Advanced Calc comes after Differential Equations and Linear Algebra at my school. It’s the last non-elective math I have to take. I’m starting my 3rd year in September (AP credit for calc 1), but I’ll be taking it again either during a summer or my 5th year when I don’t have as many classes to study for and less ROTC obligations.
Numerical Analysis seems pretty useful. I think I’ll make that my elective for next semester, thanks. I have Cryptography scheduled for the fall, anyone have advice for the course?
It really depends on what appeals to you and your thinking. I personally liked numerical analysis and number theory and kind of regret not taking combinatorics, but I know people that hated that shit.
This is super emberassing but
24x^3 + x^2 - 8x - 16 = 0
I’ve tried factoring by parts and by grouping. I can’t find the solution, and I’d rather not have my ti-89 just give me the solution. X = .9845…
How do I do this by hand, or is this one of those teduis things
Do I need to use newtons method?
Don’t forget about the complex roots.
damn, that looks complicated. Thanks though i’ll give it a try. what level math is this btw?
Since we’re already cheating…
That answer doesn’t look like something you’d have a hope of getting by hand.
Wolfram Alpha gives the exact solution as
If you are for some reason required to find that by hand, I’d just put the pencil down and walk away.
So I’d say yes, use a numerical method and Newton’s would be fine (your derivatives are certainly easy to take here). If you do need the complex solutions then resort to a CAS.