Colloquium

When do majorities exist? How does the geometry of the political spectrum influence the outcome? What does mathematics have to say about how people behave? When mathematical objects have a social interpretation, the associated theorems have social applications. We give examples of situations where sets model preferences, and show how extensions of classical theorems on convex sets can be used in the analysis of voting in "agreeable" societies. This talk also features research with undergraduates.

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Francis Edward Su is a Professor of Mathematics at Harvey Mudd College, and earned his Ph.D. from Harvard University. His research is in geometric combinatorics and applications to the social sciences, and he has co-authored over a dozen papers with undergraduates. He also has a passion for teaching and popularizing mathematics. From the Mathematical Association of America (MAA), he received the 2001 Merten M. Hasse Prize for expository writing, the 2004 Henry L. Alder Award for distinguished teaching, and was the 2006 James R.C. Leitzel Lecturer, and was recently elected First Vice-President of MAA. He also serves on the Council of the American Mathematical Society and the editorial board of the American Mathematical Monthly. In his spare time he enjoys working on his "Math Fun Facts" website, which receives nearly 4,000 hits each day.