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From Computational Complexity

This university does not discriminate based on....

I recently came across the following (I delete the name of the school) and also add my own comments in caps as they relate to UMCP hiring of professors. X-University...

From Computational Complexity

Ideal courses for a comp sci dept/I'm glad we don't do it

I once heard it said: In our data structures course we read Knuth and ignore the proofs In our algorithms course we read Knuth and ignore the code. And indeed...

From Computational Complexity

A Second Order Statement true in (R,+) but not (Q,+)

In my last post I asked Is there a first order statement true in (R,+) but false in (Q,+) Is there a second order statement true in (R,+) but false in (Q,+) ...

From Computational Complexity

Give a second order statement true in (R,+) but false in (Q,+) or show there isn't one

Here is a logic question I will ask today and answer next week. Feel free to leave comments with the answer- you may come up with a different proof than me and...

From Computational Complexity

I have consulted four times. Really!

Those who know me know that I work on stuff that is not readily applied. Or perhaps not applied at all. Certainly my current state of knowledge does seem like it...

From Computational Complexity

Chrisitan Comment on the Jesus Wife Thing misses the important point

In 2012 a Professor of Divisinity at Harvard, Karen King, announced that she had a fragment that seemed to indicate that Jesus had a wife. It was later found to...

From Computational Complexity

Is the examiner being pedantic? Whats really going on here?

The following are two real conversations.  For each one: (1) Is the examiner correct?, and (2) Where and when do you think this conversation took place? I give...

From Computational Complexity

A Game Theory Conference! That sounds like fun!

Bill: Lance just came back from Games, a conference on Game Theory. Darling: That sound like fun! From what you tell me there is some nice math behind Monopoly...

From Computational Complexity

The College Issues that are talked about/College issues that are important

The following college issues get lots of attention: Admissions-  high school students PLAN to do things JUST to get them into an elite college. For example nobody...

From Computational Complexity

Solution to the Alice-Bob-Box problem.

In my last blog I solved one problem and asked another (when will it end!).  Damien Roberts provided an answer in the comments to the last blog, so kudos to Damien...

From Computational Complexity

Solution to the infinite hat problem/a point/a new problem

In my last post I asked the following question (I've shortened it here but its the same really.) An infinite number of people, labelled 1,2,3,... have hats on ...

From Computational Complexity

An infinite hat problem and later a point

Problem: There are an infinite number of people. They are labelled 1,2,3,... (I am not a number, I am a free man!) There is the Master who I call The Master....

From Computational Complexity

Is determining if a poly over a finite field is 1-1 hard? Sure seems so.

When I teach cryptography  to High School  students I begin with shift and linear  ciphers which are x --> x+s mod 26 (s is a shift, x is a letter of the alphabet...

From Computational Complexity

There is now a Bounded Discrete Envy Free Cake Cutting Protocol!

Lance: Bill, there is a new result on cake cutting that was presented at STOC! Do you want to blog about it? Bill: Do snakes have hips! Does a chicken have lips...

From Computational Complexity

There is now a Bounded Discrete Envy Free Cake Cutting Protocol!

Lance: Bill, there is a new result on cake cutting that was presented at STOC! Do you want to blog about it? Bill: Do snakes have hips! Does a chicken have lips...

From Computational Complexity

When does n divide a_n? The answer, though you already know it. The Point, though its not as strong as I wanted. Oh well.

In my last post When does n divide a_n? I gave a sequence: a(1)=0 a(2)=2 a(3)=3 for all n ≥ 4 a(n) = a(n-2) + a(n-3) and I noted that for 2 ≤ n ≤ 23 it looked...

From Computational Complexity

When does n divide a_n in this sequence?

Consider the following sequence: a(1)=0 a(2)=2 a(3)=3 for all n ≥ 4  a(n) = a(n-2)+a(n-3) Here is a table of a(n) for 2 ≤ n ≤ 23 n       2     3     4    ...

From Computational Complexity

What do Evolution, Same Sex Marriage, and Abstract Set Theory have in Common?

(This post is based on articles from 2012 so it may no longer be true. Also- to be fair- I tried finding stuff on the web BY the people who object to our children...

From Computational Complexity

New Ramsey Result that will be hard to verify but Ronald Graham things its right which is good enough for me.

If you finitely color the natural numbers there will be a monochromatic solution to x+2y+3z - 5w = 0 There is a finite coloring of the natural numbers such that...

From Computational Complexity

My third post on Gathering for Gardners

(Workshop for women in computational topology in August: see here. For a post about these kinds of workshops see here.) (I have already posted twice on stuffhere...
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