University Math Society at Florida

It’s that time of year again! University Math Society is proud to announce our 11th annual Integration Bee, a competition open to all UF students which will be held on Saturday, March 25, 2023. The event will be held in New Physics Building, with the first phase of competition beginning promptly at 10:00 AM in NPB 1001. Lunch will be provided.

The Integration Bee consists of two components: a preliminary written test and head-to-head bracket play. During the written test, participants will be given a list of 30 integrals with an hour and a half to solve as many as they can. Top scorers will qualify for double elimination bracket play, in which participants compete to see who can solve the same integral fastest. All competition rooms will be open for viewing so you can watch your friends compete for the title of Grand Integrator 2023! Bee rules with complete details will be available on the UMS website at: https://ums.math.ufl.edu/integrationbee . If you would like to see updates about UMS and the Integration Bee, or if you have any questions about the event, please use the QR code on our flier to join the UMS Discord.

Prizes will be awarded as follows:
IFT First Prize: $500
Second Prize: $300
Third Prize: $200
Fourth Prize: $100

A special thank you to the Institute for Fundamental Theory, of the UF Physics Department, for sponsoring our first prize, and to the UF Mathematics Department for sponsoring our second, third, and fourth prizes.

We hope to see you at the event!

On Wednesday, February 15th, University Math Society, a community of UF undergrads who like math, will be having its February General Body Meeting! We'll be announcing many upcoming mathematical events, eat Publix sandwiches, play games, and hang out! Also, we'll have a fun activity related to Valentine's Day. The GBM will start at 6:00 pm and take place in Little Hall 113. Come on out and meet your fellow mathematically-minded classmates!

On Tuesday, January 31st, University Math Society will be holding an REU Application Workshop. REUs are summer opportunities for undergraduate students to get hands-on experience doing exciting math research. However, the application process can be daunting. If you're interesting in applying to REUs, but need some help with your applications, come to this workshop to get help from fellow undergraduates! The workshop will start at 6:00 pm in Little Hall 113.

On Thursday, March 24th, UF's beloved Dr. McCullough is going to give a talk on the theory of positive polynomials, specifically talking about algebraic certificates of positivity in regards to polynomials. He will also be awarding $20 to the first person to get a trivia question correct at the end of the talk! And, like always, we'll eat pizza after the talk! The talk will be in the Little Hall Atrium at 4:00 pm. Here is the full abstract of the talk below:

A polynomial p in one variable is positive if p(t) is non-negative for every real number t. An easy argument shows, if p (with real coefficients) is positive, then p is a sum of squares of polynomials with real coefficients. The converse is evidently true. Thus, expressing a polynomial as a sum of squares is an algebraic certificate of positivity. The study of positive polynomials, in one and several variables, goes back to at least Hilbert in the late 1800s.

See Hilbert's 17th problem. In this talk we will hit some of the highlights of the theory and, time permitting, discuss algebraic certificates of positivity in other contexts. There will be a trivia question with a $20 cash prize for the first correct answer (within 15 minutes) at the conclusion of the talk.