Math | Penn Today

two people looking at a student who is pointing at a math equation on a white board

Math education and engagement in West Philadelphia

This fall, students in Math 123 applied the skills they learned about math education and communication while working with 10th graders at Paul Robeson High School.

the exterior of the david rittenhouse laboratory

A ‘vibrant nexus’ for research and discovery in the physical sciences

With the construction of a new Physical Sciences Building and updates to the David Rittenhouse Laboratory, Penn will create a modernized physical sciences quadrant that integrates state-of-the-art research in physics, mathematics, chemistry, and engineering.

interconnected nodes with squares depicting information above them

New mathematical tools to study opinion dynamics

Using a class of network structures known as discourse sheaves, researchers describe a new, flexible framework for studying how opinions change over social networks.

Understanding the pandemic classroom

Penn professors join the “Understand This ...” podcast to talk about the fall 2021 return to the classroom, reflecting on what students and educators have experienced during the course of the COVID-19 pandemic, while examining lessons from remote learning.

Mathematicians prove 2D version of quantum gravity really works

Xin Sun of the School of Arts & Sciences spoke about new research at the intersection of physics, philosophy, and math. “This is a masterpiece in mathematical physics,” he said.

How mathematicians use homology to make sense of topology

Robert Ghrist of the School of Arts & Sciences spoke about homology, which uses algebra to identify holes in a particular topological shape. “There’s a real impetus to have methods that are robust and that are pulling out qualitative features,” he said.

Two Churchill Scholars for Penn

Adam Konkol and Abigail Timmel have each been awarded Churchill Scholarships for a year of graduate research study at the University of Cambridge in England. Konkol and Timmel are among only 16 who were selected nationwide.

The impact of providing hands-on, interactive projects

With inventXYZ, President’s Innovation Prize winner Nikil Ragav has created a high-tech curriculum for high school to motivate future problem-solvers.

portraits of from top left clockwise Ishmail Abdus-Saboor, Bo Zhen, Marc Miskin, Ziyue Gao, and Bhaswar B. Bhattacharya

Five Penn faculty named 2021 Sloan Research Fellows

The fellowship recognizes extraordinary U.S. and Canadian researchers whose creativity, innovation, and research accomplishments make them stand out as the next generation of scientific leaders.

Why are lines at polling places so long? Math

Stephen Pettigrew of the School of Arts & Sciences explained why the voting process can take longer than expected. “The steps in the system in most states are: You have a check-in step where they verify your voter registration status, and then there’s the step of actually voting. Lines out the door can be a consequence of bottlenecks at any of those steps,” he said.

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