SSL Minutes
24 April 2001
Rachel and Geir
Geir and Rachel took notes.
We had another visitor, a post-doc, called Rebecca. She is a possible candidate for leading SSL next year in Jim's absence.
We talked about tee-shirt ideas. No one had designed a concept over the weekend and with the end of the semester coming we are getting desperate! Rachel, Kristin and Dominic were willing to make the final decision of what to put on the shirt and get it all together to be sent out. Geir and Hal said they would put together their own concepts to give to us for Thursday's meeting. Mike suggested we use an idea from the Baxter conjecture and proof since that seems to be the only major new things completed this semester. Other ideas generated from the group are random tiling an actual toad! to combining matrices and tilings in layers on the shirt (although the tilings have been on previous shirts, so it wouldn't necessarily show new things accomplished this semester). One thing or another, we need to get cracking on this, and choose a concept for the shirt by the end of this week!
Things to work on in research: PARTIAL RESULTS should be written down and sent to the rest of the group. This is beneficial to everyone in the group! For example, it helps to prevent repetition and making the same mistakes as someone else in the group who already did. Please send out partial results!
Additionally, send out QUESTIONS that you want to be answered that you cannot answer yourself. Nick volunteered to keep the question list, so please send your questions to Nick.
Mike sez:
Please don't restrict yourself to questions you can't answer yourself. I think it would be nice if this list had all the questions you can think of to ask, whether you've tried to answer them or not. If you have, then include whatever progress you've made. I'll send out another example in the next message.There are some modifications mentioned to Hal's applet. Dan volunteered to help. An example of these would be to outline the open squares that come in the shuffling of the applet so that the viewer will more easily see what's going on.
Mike sez:
Another mod would add arrows to the tiles to show which direction they will move.There was a question related to the An-1 conjecture about connections from the first terminal to the 2n terminal and "reeling in" the linking. I had forgotten I was taking notes and forgot to write down what the actual question was. (Mike?) No one volunteered to work on this one.
NOTE: next WEDNESDAY MAY 2nd our group is speaking to VIGRE at noon! Think about what you can do to participate in this, if you want to discuss your research, etc.
Progress reports:
Dominic is studying on path connections on an ASM leading to an undetermined element.
Nick is programming, looking at non-Baxter stuff.
Dan ?
Geir is working on the An-1 conjecture.
"Baxter boy" (Hal) is putting his proof on paper.
Kristin is comparing data on FPLs.
Boytcho has been sick, has not been able to do much.
Rachel is putting together her hexagonal proofs, will write them up to send to the group.