PINT OF SCIENCE FESTIVAL
19-21 MAY 2025
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Numbers have life; they're not just symbols on paper. We are, and increasingly more so in the future, in a world dominated by data, numbers and algorithms. Our researchers will untangle both data and number complexity for you…..it’s a lot better than trying to understand your taxes!
Math empowers: from rabbits breeding to the ageing brain and radar imaging
Annie Cuyt
University of Antwerp, Faculty of Sciences
The famous Italian mathematician Fibonacci introduced a sequence, bearing his name, to calculate the growth of a hypothetical idealized rabbit population. As the Fibonacci numbers are linearly generated, there is a strong connection with some methods in digital signal processing. The introduction of sparse algorithms, in order to tackle the data deluge problem, and some novel techniques developed at the University of Antwerp, greatly expand the horizon of signal processing. We will illustrate these ideas with a number of interesting and challenging applications.
How boring can a number actually be?
David Eelbode
University of Antwerp, Faculty of Sciences
The mathematician's answer to this question might be a bit biased, but the point is that there are no boring numbers. Even if we restrict ourselves to the integers, which are the numbers we all learned in kindergarten - when maths was still about counting pieces of fruit. Not only will I show that all these numbers are interesting, but I will also highlight some of the most interesting ones, appearing in open problems in mathematics. Warning: this talk may contain pancakes, served with a dash of humor!
