$\sqrt{x}$
\(\sqrt{x}\)
Wednesday 29 May 2013
Welcome to the Petersen Graph
This is not my first attempt at a math blog. I have an older one on Wordpress called Idiot String Theories. I chose Wordpress at the time because it was the only one I was aware of that would let me use LaTeX commands to write math notation. I neglected the blog because other things took up my time and also because I never got used to the Wordpress LaTeX syntax, which was limited and somewhat different from actual LaTeX.
After a while, I also started to feel that the name Idiot String Theories might sound a bit harsh. It wasn't meant to be. "Idiot strings" refers to to strings that are tied to gloves or mittens and threaded through the sleeves to prevent children from losing them. The "theory" part was added as a reference to "string theory", something about which I actually know very little. Maybe somebody reading it might have concluded that I thought string theory was idiotic, but I don't. It was just meant to be playful.
Thanks to Christian Perfect, I have discovered a new, better way to include math in blogs called MathJax. I haven't used it yet -- that's what this blog is for -- but it appears to work more like LaTeX itself does. Since it's not platform specific, like Wordpress's math support was, I can use my blogger account, which I've had before I started using Wordpress. I suspect it still won't be as good as using LaTeX itself, but from what I can tell, it is an improvement. We'll see.
The function of this blog will also be different. The main purpose of the old blog was to make a public catalogue of questions I'd come up with while doing research, but I either didn't have time to investigate or were too far beyond my area expertise. I might still do that here, but I also want to write more about other topics, and in particular topics that I am better versed in. Broadly speaking, I am interested in discrete math. Specifically, my research area is algebraic graph theory.
The blog is named after Petersen Graph, after one of the most commonly used examples in graph theory. A picture of the Petersen Graph can be seen in the top right-hand corner of the algebraic graph theory link above.
I may also comment on teaching mathematics, as well as different ways I've noticed where mathematics can be applied to so-called "real life" situations.
After a while, I also started to feel that the name Idiot String Theories might sound a bit harsh. It wasn't meant to be. "Idiot strings" refers to to strings that are tied to gloves or mittens and threaded through the sleeves to prevent children from losing them. The "theory" part was added as a reference to "string theory", something about which I actually know very little. Maybe somebody reading it might have concluded that I thought string theory was idiotic, but I don't. It was just meant to be playful.
Thanks to Christian Perfect, I have discovered a new, better way to include math in blogs called MathJax. I haven't used it yet -- that's what this blog is for -- but it appears to work more like LaTeX itself does. Since it's not platform specific, like Wordpress's math support was, I can use my blogger account, which I've had before I started using Wordpress. I suspect it still won't be as good as using LaTeX itself, but from what I can tell, it is an improvement. We'll see.
The function of this blog will also be different. The main purpose of the old blog was to make a public catalogue of questions I'd come up with while doing research, but I either didn't have time to investigate or were too far beyond my area expertise. I might still do that here, but I also want to write more about other topics, and in particular topics that I am better versed in. Broadly speaking, I am interested in discrete math. Specifically, my research area is algebraic graph theory.
The blog is named after Petersen Graph, after one of the most commonly used examples in graph theory. A picture of the Petersen Graph can be seen in the top right-hand corner of the algebraic graph theory link above.
I may also comment on teaching mathematics, as well as different ways I've noticed where mathematics can be applied to so-called "real life" situations.
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