To reader(s)/empty set:
I haven't made a post here for what seems like a lifetime ago. The last few months have been quite stressful due to my studies and among other things, but watching a couple of video blogs on youtube has inpsired me to write again.
My exams will begin mid May and end late May, I'm very concerned about them at the moment and will be focusing on them more than anything else for the next few weeks. After my exams, I must give an oral presentation on the history project I submitted a few months ago, which I am dreading since I suck badly at public speaking, but I'm sure I'll find a way. Then I might possibly get admitted for a studentship over the summer vacation, although I'm not even sure if my department still offers such a programme. If not, then I'm not entirely sure what I'll do for the summer.
As it is 0h38, I will not say much more for now, except that I am back (temporarily anyway) and that in the coming months I may or may not decide to add new posts, depending on my mood really :)
Au revoir!
Tuesday 17 April 2007
Saturday 3 March 2007
Tuesday 16 January 2007
nous commençons!
Classes have resumed and the skin pigmentation under my eyes is starting to show it. Yesterday I arrived at school around 10h and didn't leave until 18h35 (my last class finished at 18h); I suppose it wasn't too bad as I only had a few lectures but I almost fell asleep in my last lecture (Mathematical Finance). The first day is usually very unruly, because most students have a compulsive disorder in which they must share every detail with their friends with regards to what they have done during the winter break, and they just won't shut up during lectures.
Today I have two hours of computer labs, which ought to be fun, and then I have a late lecture. I'm still slightly worried about my project despite the claim of completion I made in my previous post. I keep changing the style of referencing and now I'm considering changing the content of the last chapter, as I'm not sure whether it fairly reflects the work of Galois. I still have over two weeks to 'complete' it, but I don't want it hanging over my head.
Are we soon to see the deunification of the united kingdom? Both Northern Ireland, Scotland and Wales have either their own parliament or an assembly, and now 61% of people in England want an English Parliament. This could mean the monarchy may soon become irrelevant and Pandeus' plans would have succeeded, rejoice! This will be his greatest achievement since that time he invaded Norway after attending a nationalist sing-along.
My computer lab session appears to be cancelled but now I must study other subjects, so au revoir!
Today I have two hours of computer labs, which ought to be fun, and then I have a late lecture. I'm still slightly worried about my project despite the claim of completion I made in my previous post. I keep changing the style of referencing and now I'm considering changing the content of the last chapter, as I'm not sure whether it fairly reflects the work of Galois. I still have over two weeks to 'complete' it, but I don't want it hanging over my head.
Are we soon to see the deunification of the united kingdom? Both Northern Ireland, Scotland and Wales have either their own parliament or an assembly, and now 61% of people in England want an English Parliament. This could mean the monarchy may soon become irrelevant and Pandeus' plans would have succeeded, rejoice! This will be his greatest achievement since that time he invaded Norway after attending a nationalist sing-along.
My computer lab session appears to be cancelled but now I must study other subjects, so au revoir!
Wednesday 10 January 2007
Completion, Hooray!
I will begin by issuing the following statement: British police officers do NOT lynch minorities, I said that only for comical value and I apologise for the offense I may have caused anyone.
On a better note; I have pretty much completed my history project - I am only left with writing an abstract for an oral presentation I must give in the summer. I fear that I had exceeded the word limit so I had to reduce it a little bit, but I think it's fine now. Through my research on the theory of equations, I have come to the conclusion that the question of solvability is still open. Even though we've inherited a beautiful theory from Galois which provides us with an algorithm enabling one to determine whether or not an equation is solvable by radicals. However this algorithm can, at times, be difficult because it relies on knowing the roots of the equation. He even admits that his methods are sometimes impractical. One might wonder if one can determine the solvability of an equation by simply looking at its coefficients, or perhaps this is not possible and what Galois did was the best that can be done.
Nevertheless, I have discovered that Galois Theory has a much greater importance that is not restricted to the theory of equations, from it emerged Group Theory and more generally the study of algebraic structures. If you read his work (or at least a translation) Mémoire sur les conditions de résolubilité des équations par radicaux, you will find that most of the results have no mention of equations - perhaps this was his intention. In his memoir he writes:
Now that my project is essentially complete I must proceed with other work I planned to do over the winter break. Such as my combinatorics homework (which I had completed most of before the break begun) and also I intended to learn how to use Matlab before my classes in computational linear algebra begin, but now I only have about 3 days to do this. It matters not though, I already know how to use C++ for numerical problems, and so I should pick up Matlab relatively quickly.
There is still no news of my bicycle. I was struck by the sirens of a police car, speeding down the road, hoping that they had found a lead on my case, but I received no call later that day - so I figured not. I honestly don't think my bicycle will be returned now; I have come to accept this.
I will now make my way into campus to continue my studies, so until then Sayonara!
On a better note; I have pretty much completed my history project - I am only left with writing an abstract for an oral presentation I must give in the summer. I fear that I had exceeded the word limit so I had to reduce it a little bit, but I think it's fine now. Through my research on the theory of equations, I have come to the conclusion that the question of solvability is still open. Even though we've inherited a beautiful theory from Galois which provides us with an algorithm enabling one to determine whether or not an equation is solvable by radicals. However this algorithm can, at times, be difficult because it relies on knowing the roots of the equation. He even admits that his methods are sometimes impractical. One might wonder if one can determine the solvability of an equation by simply looking at its coefficients, or perhaps this is not possible and what Galois did was the best that can be done.
Nevertheless, I have discovered that Galois Theory has a much greater importance that is not restricted to the theory of equations, from it emerged Group Theory and more generally the study of algebraic structures. If you read his work (or at least a translation) Mémoire sur les conditions de résolubilité des équations par radicaux, you will find that most of the results have no mention of equations - perhaps this was his intention. In his memoir he writes:
"Jump above calculations; group the operations, classify them according to their complexities rather than their appearance; this, I believe, is the mission of future mathematicians; this is the road on which I am embarking in this work."I probably won't upload my project yet, as it has yet to be graded - but I will show people on an individual basis. Anyone who wishes to see it, then you may request to, but you will be required to undergo intense screening in order to determine you're not a fellow classmate nor an associate of a fellow classmate (even though we all have different projects to do).
Now that my project is essentially complete I must proceed with other work I planned to do over the winter break. Such as my combinatorics homework (which I had completed most of before the break begun) and also I intended to learn how to use Matlab before my classes in computational linear algebra begin, but now I only have about 3 days to do this. It matters not though, I already know how to use C++ for numerical problems, and so I should pick up Matlab relatively quickly.
There is still no news of my bicycle. I was struck by the sirens of a police car, speeding down the road, hoping that they had found a lead on my case, but I received no call later that day - so I figured not. I honestly don't think my bicycle will be returned now; I have come to accept this.
I will now make my way into campus to continue my studies, so until then Sayonara!
Saturday 6 January 2007
A sad day for humanity
Hello reader(s): I've had a pretty good time since my last post. In fact I managed to understand what Lagrange was trying to say, and to an extent I understand what Ruffini and Abel did; however I still must understand Galois Theory, it seems a lot to digest in only a few days - so perhaps I can get away with just learning key ideas without really reading all the lemmata/theorems. I still have this last chapter to write until I'm pretty much home and dry, except for an introduction and conclusion, I suppose this shouldn't consume too much of my precious time.
The perfect start to friday, I had. I rose from bed before the sun rose from its, and I reached my department before 10am, and proceeded with my work. I then went to leave at 12.30pm, only to discover my bicycle had been stolen. :( The culprit had cut right through my lock (a cable) and now I am bicycleless! I reported it to the security but they said it's not very likely they will be able to retrieve, and since I don't have insurance I can't claim on it and so I'm out of a lot of money. I demanded they hunt the evildoer down then amputate his hands, but they were not interested! I will report this incident to the police today, although I doubt they will achieve much; they will be too busy involved with real crimes - like handing out parking tickets or lynching minorities, damn them!
Anyway, this is why my day somewhat sucked. My faith in humanity has all but disappeared. I know this person will eventually get what's coming to them, but until then let him/her enjoy the bicycle!
The perfect start to friday, I had. I rose from bed before the sun rose from its, and I reached my department before 10am, and proceeded with my work. I then went to leave at 12.30pm, only to discover my bicycle had been stolen. :( The culprit had cut right through my lock (a cable) and now I am bicycleless! I reported it to the security but they said it's not very likely they will be able to retrieve, and since I don't have insurance I can't claim on it and so I'm out of a lot of money. I demanded they hunt the evildoer down then amputate his hands, but they were not interested! I will report this incident to the police today, although I doubt they will achieve much; they will be too busy involved with real crimes - like handing out parking tickets or lynching minorities, damn them!
Anyway, this is why my day somewhat sucked. My faith in humanity has all but disappeared. I know this person will eventually get what's coming to them, but until then let him/her enjoy the bicycle!
Wednesday 3 January 2007
Me and my equations.
Good news everyone, the cooking stove is now working! I lived off coffee, cereal, toast and take-out food for past 3-4 days. I have no idea how it was repaired, neither my flatmate or myself reported it to management; verily it was a miracle. Rejoice! I will now return to my diet of fish, rice, vegetables, coffee and bread; and occasionally Pakistani and Malaysian food. I'm also thinking about adding egg to my palette, but each time I try to fry or boil an egg it usually ends up burnt or uncooked respectively.
Another problem I must solve is understanding Lagrange's treatise "Reflexions sur la resolution algebrique des equations". His methods for explaining why cubic and quartics are solvable by equations are somewhat unclear to me. I understand each step of his work, I am just unable to link it to the problem he claimed to solve. To a degree Ruffini and Abel cleared the matter up, but I still want to comprehend what Lagrange was attempting to do. Oh I forgot to mention, this is for my history project - I'm reporting on the development of the theory of equations, namely on their solvability. I'm nearing completion, I just need to discuss the contributions of Abel and Galois, and then write introduction/conclusions. Hopefully I can get this finished before the end of the week, which will give me one more week to prepare for next semester.
I got a new (used) hat yesterday! My friend was wearing a trapping hat, so I asked him where he got it from. Then when I told him I really liked it, he gave it to me - very generous! Although I feel that it is a little tight around my head, I think I'll have to buy a bigger size to contain my painlessly. Nevertheless, it's a really cool hat and it keeps me warm during the winter mornings.
Okay, well I'm going to make myself some breakfast now - probably some toast and coffee, then I will head off to see if my department is open; if it is not then I'll go to another department with a computer cluster in order to finish project.
Another problem I must solve is understanding Lagrange's treatise "Reflexions sur la resolution algebrique des equations". His methods for explaining why cubic and quartics are solvable by equations are somewhat unclear to me. I understand each step of his work, I am just unable to link it to the problem he claimed to solve. To a degree Ruffini and Abel cleared the matter up, but I still want to comprehend what Lagrange was attempting to do. Oh I forgot to mention, this is for my history project - I'm reporting on the development of the theory of equations, namely on their solvability. I'm nearing completion, I just need to discuss the contributions of Abel and Galois, and then write introduction/conclusions. Hopefully I can get this finished before the end of the week, which will give me one more week to prepare for next semester.
I got a new (used) hat yesterday! My friend was wearing a trapping hat, so I asked him where he got it from. Then when I told him I really liked it, he gave it to me - very generous! Although I feel that it is a little tight around my head, I think I'll have to buy a bigger size to contain my painlessly. Nevertheless, it's a really cool hat and it keeps me warm during the winter mornings.
Okay, well I'm going to make myself some breakfast now - probably some toast and coffee, then I will head off to see if my department is open; if it is not then I'll go to another department with a computer cluster in order to finish project.
Monday 1 January 2007
A Merry Old Year!
Yes, 2007 is upon us now, another chance to put things right. A chance to make new years resolutions and stick to them for at least 2 weeks, a chance to reflect on 2006 and learn from mistakes and a chance to.. do whatever your heart desires!
I spent last night working on my essay, which kind of sucks but at least I did something productive and so didn't feel guilty about wasting time (as I usually do). I was expecting to see fireworks outside, but I saw them not! I didn't even hear people in my block of flats celebrating, perhaps the spirit of new years is dying. In any case, it worked out well for me not having flatmates walking in at 3h falling all over the place and disturbing me during my sleep!
I had an enjoyable 2006, not without its stress though, however I feel I came close to fulfilling my potential for the year. It was probably my best year for quite some time. I have compiled an incomplete list of my new years resolution, in order of importance:
I hope you all have yourself a good year! I now must make some coffee, sleep and complete my essay in some undetermined random order.
P.S. I think I will make a post about my project soon; as it is far more interesting than my life :D
I spent last night working on my essay, which kind of sucks but at least I did something productive and so didn't feel guilty about wasting time (as I usually do). I was expecting to see fireworks outside, but I saw them not! I didn't even hear people in my block of flats celebrating, perhaps the spirit of new years is dying. In any case, it worked out well for me not having flatmates walking in at 3h falling all over the place and disturbing me during my sleep!
I had an enjoyable 2006, not without its stress though, however I feel I came close to fulfilling my potential for the year. It was probably my best year for quite some time. I have compiled an incomplete list of my new years resolution, in order of importance:
- No procrastinating.
- To pass all my exams with an average worthy of a scholarship.
- To improve my French.
- To consume at least 2 meals a day.
- To make more of an effort to talk to people.
- To drink less coffee.
I hope you all have yourself a good year! I now must make some coffee, sleep and complete my essay in some undetermined random order.
P.S. I think I will make a post about my project soon; as it is far more interesting than my life :D
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