This seminar has three main goals: 1) orientation to life at a research university 2) introduction to some of the mathematical ideas involved in simulation 3) developing the ability to use the world wide web as a research tool.
Your attendance is required at each class session and attendance will be a factor in the grade you receive in this course: satisfatory or unsatisfactory (pass or fail). A short paper will be required.
The course calendar lists some of the main features of our ten weeks
of classes.
Many computer games such as "Sim City" and "Civilization" create
copies of real life situations and examine the effects of possible actions.
There are several ways in which mathematics is involved. On the
hand there is the general problems of modeling and strategy which
are general objects of mathematical concern. On the other, the
specific ways that these games are made use certain mathematical
objects called cellular automata. We will examine some simpler
versions of these automata (e.g. Conway's "game of life") and
find information about such topics as cellular automata and
artificial life on the world wide web.