Senior math major here, I need a topic for what to write my final paper on.
Originally I wanted to find something about the Fibonacci sequence I could write about, just because it interests me. But specifically I don't know what about it I can write 15 pages worth.
what were some pitfalls you've made trying to write a math paper?
first you research something and produce some results
then you get down to writing the paper
>>7890284
Write it about how you're going to wind up teaching high schoolers how to do algebra.
>>7890290
maybe as a sub, that would suck. I'd like to pursue the actuarial field.
Surreal numbers
>>7890317
so it's more infinite than infinite?
what property does this have that Reals don't?
>>7890284
You can do fibbonaci
Start with historical treatment of it
Move to recursive and generating functions
Look at it as a series. From there, there's some neat things you could do to it.
Analyze the results you get
I wrote a physics paper. Was supposed to be no more than 13 pages
Lost 5 points because it was supposed to be 13 double space, not single.
It's hard to fit in only 15
>>7890418
>Was supposed to be no more than 13 pages
>Lost 5 points because it was supposed to be 13 double space, not single.
wow, that's annoying. Never heard of an instructor taking points off for doing too much.
>>7890418
yeah you could write a lot about the fibbonaci's
get a closed form with the generating function, analyze how fast the sequence grows
get closed forms for lots of other sequences in terms of fibonacci numbers
go into lucas numbers, etc
>>7890334
>what property does this have that Reals don't?
Among others, it's non-archimedian.
But it has the same first-order properties the real numbers have. That's what makes it so interesting, because while it has plenty of infinitesimals and 'weird' numbers, it also has a lot of attractive features.
It's interesting to research analysis on the surreals, as it has some unusual properties. For example, unless some countable sequence is constant, it never converges to a limit (by the definition of converges we're familiar with).
>>7890284
Write a paper with useful applications
>protip: you can't
>>7890284
I may only be speaking as a lowly freshman math major but I think that the point when numberphile makes a video on something is the point when it becomes literally baby tier.
>>7890567
why don't you provide a proof of the babby-tier Riemann hypothesis then hipster
>>7890578
But they didn't make a video on the proof you fucking mongoloid.
They explained what the hypothesis was, what the function was, etc. Those things are baby tier, not the proof.
>>7890580
What was your point then?
If giving the definition and some extremely basic un-rigorous properties of the Riemann hypothesis doesn't trivialize everything else related to the theorem how does giving the definition and a handful of extremely basic properties of Fibonacci numbers make everything related to them baby-tier?
>>7890636
>the set of rationals except numerator and denominator can be real?
..the reals?
>>7890636
That's called the set of real numbers, anon.
Well, if the denominator is nonzero.
http://mathworld.wolfram.com/SurrealNumber.html
Okay I think I finally have an Idea of what Surreals are now.
but what exactly do they mean by the simplest number?
Are you a senior in high school or college? If you're in college, you cannot possibly think about doing your final paper on the Fibonacci sequence! It's baby math at best...
>>7890742
I'm not, professor asked us for a topic and I said fibonacci because there's probably something interesting I could write about. I haven't gotten any farther than that and am open for suggestions.
I'm definitely leaning towards this Surreal numbers thing, they have Donald E. Knuth's book at our library so I might read up so more on it.
>>7890742
What is better math, anon? Say the best topic you can think of.
>>7890459
it's really common among the more tightass professors at my school. it's just to prevent bloating up your paper with shit and to respect the fact that professors have lives too and don't want to read 10 extra pages or some shit per person.
You should write a paper about synthetic differential geometry and smooth topoi. Your professor is a high school teacher and won't understand it so he won't be able to disprove any claims made in the paper.
>>7890284
Write about the Pisano periods (period of the fibonacci sequence mod n)
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pisano_period
There's a decent mix of things that are elementary to prove, things that require a bit of number theory/field theory, and things that are unproven.
>>7890299
How the fuck does one become an acuarian by a math education (I assume it's pure math)?
>>7892821
That's fairly common. Needs supplementary understanding of stat,prob,stochastic based math if he hasn't covered it in depth.
>>7892842
Is it possible with a bs or do I need a master?
>>7892880
You won't learn everything you need with a BS unless you go out of your way to take classes that focus on those subjects as pure math. It's going to depend on your department. At my uni, we have a separate math BS that's tailored around math required for actuarial science.
>>7890284
Pick something with useful applications, like maybe matrix manipulation for computer graphics? I think it's awsome how you can give an object perspective and create a 2 dimensional projection using matrices. Maybe include eigenvectors as well if you can.
>>7892889
We have actuarial-science and insurance-math which isn't part of "math" but we do have a math modelling BS where all there almost is is statistics and probability
>>7890284
Lars von Trier's Nymphomaniac has some interesting stuff on the Fibonacci sequence
>>7890284
>2016
>Not rigorously prooving the Reimann hypothesis in your thesis paper
You should probably switch to an easier major like civil engineering or sociology
>As a final project, I need to write an essay containing stuff people already know, with a minimum page count
Are you sure this isn't a high school class you're finishing up OP? Because it sure sounds high school level to me.
>>7893342
That joke is awful compadre
>>7893360
brainlet detected
>>7894173
pretending to be intelligent must be all you have in life
I pity you
>>7894378
>not getting that proving Riemann's hypothesis is just a meme
You poor thing
>>7890299
Then why didn't you just major in actuarial science you dumb fuck?
I fucking despise math majors that think they're going to do anything other than academia/teaching. Especially the ones that think they can get into biology somehow.
Accept your fate teaching algebra faggot
