MAA Seaway Section Meeting
Department of Mathematics

Student Presentation:

Diane Lunman - "Applications of Coving Maps to Spectral Theory of Graphs "
Abstract
The spectrum of a graph is the set of roots of the characteristic polynomial of its adjacency matrix. A covering map between graphs relates the spectrum of the base and the cover through divisibility of characteristic polynomials. Using this and iso-spectral graphs we produce infinite sequences of graphs with nice properties. This talk is based on research carried out during the summer 2005 "Geometry and Physics on Graphs" REU at Canisius College.

Faculty Talk:

Daniel Birmajer, Ph.D. - "The Standard Identities and and Quantum Planes "
Abstract
Since the standard polynomials play an essential role in the Polynomial Identity (PI) theory of the matrix algebras, it is natural to look for similar situations in other contexts. Let F be a field and q an arbitrary nonzero scalar. The quantum plane is the associative ring generated by the variables x  and y, whose product satisfies the following relation yx=qxy. In this talk we explore the role of the standard identities in the PI-theory of the quantum planes.