Concrete models and dynamic instruments as early technology tools in classrooms at the dawn of ICMI: from Felix Klein to present applications in mathematics classrooms in different parts of the world

Most national curricula for both primary and secondary grades encourage the active involvement of learners through the manipulation of materials (either concrete models or dynamic instruments). This trend is rooted in the emphasis given, at the dawn of ICMI, to what might be called an experimental approach: the links between mathematics, natural sciences and technology were in the foreground in the early documents of ICMI and also in the papers of its first president, Felix Klein. However, the presence of this perspective in teaching practice is uneven. In this paper, we shall reconstruct first an outline of what happened in three different parts of the world (Europe, USA and Japan) under the direct influence of Klein. Then, we shall report classroom activities realized in the same regions in three different research centres: the Laboratory of Mathematical Machines at the University of Modena and Reggio Emilia, Italy (http://www.mmlab.unimore.it); the pedagogical space of Kinematical Model for Design Digital Library at Cornell, USA (http://kmoddl.library.cornell.edu/); and the Centre for Research on International Cooperation in Educational Development at Tsukuba University, Japan (http://math-info.criced.tsukuba.ac.jp/). They have maintained the reference to concrete materials (either models or instruments), with original interpretations that take advantage of the different cultural conditions. Although in all cases the reference to history is deep and systematic, the synergy with mathematical modelling and with information and communication technologies has been exploited, not to substitute but to complement the advantages of the direct manipulations.     

A dynamical systems model of unorganized segregation

We consider Schelling’s bounded neighborhood model (BNM) of unorganized segregation, from the perspective of modern dynamical systems theory. We carry out a complete quantitative analysis of the system for linear tolerance schedules. We derive a fully predictive model and associate each term with a social meaning. We recover and generalize Schelling’s qualitative results.

For the case of unlimited population movement, we derive exact formulae for regions in parameter space where stable integrated population mixes can occur, and show how neighborhood tipping can be explained in terms of basins of attraction.

When population movement is limited, we derive exact criteria for the occurrence of new population mixes.

For nonlinear tolerance schedules, we illustrate our approach with numerical simulations.     

Being a mathematics teacher in times of reform

Within research on mathematics teachers and/or their professional development, the concept of identity emerges as a critique of views of how teaching practice is related to teachers’ ‘internal states’ of knowledge and beliefs. Identity relates teachers’ professional lives to teaching practices and to the contexts in which the teaching and/or professional development occurs. However, what might count as the context still needs in-depth discussion. In order to contribute to the development of a theoretical framework for understanding mathematics teachers’ professional lives, we will draw on one remarkable teacher’s identity as a primary mathematics teacher in relation to one political, sociocultural, and pedagogical context. We use this teacher’s experience to discuss how education policies that create what Ball (2003) called ‘terrors of performativity’ tend to impede the formation of a balanced teacher identity.     

Global optimization of mixed-integer quadratically-constrained quadratic programs (MIQCQP) through piecewise-linear and edge-concave relaxations

We propose a deterministic global optimization approach, whose novel contributions are rooted in the edge-concave and piecewise-linear underestimators, to address nonconvex mixed-integer quadratically-constrained quadratic programs (MIQCQP) to ${\epsilon}$ -global optimality. The facets of low-dimensional (n ?? 3) edge-concave aggregations dominating the termwise relaxation of MIQCQP are introduced at every node of a branch-and-bound tree. Concave multivariable terms and sparsely distributed bilinear terms that do not participate in connected edge-concave aggregations are addressed through piecewise-linear relaxations. Extensive computational studies are presented for point packing problems, standard and generalized pooling problems, and examples from GLOBALLib (Meeraus, Globallib. http://www.gamsworld.org/global/globallib.htm).     

A typological analysis: understanding pre-service teacher beliefs and how they are transformed

This article describes the beliefs and their transformations of members of a cohort of early-childhood, elementary and middle-level pre-service teachers (PSTs) as they professionally develop. A typological analysis of both quantitative and qualitative data collected between August 2011 and May 2013 was utilized to categorize how 40 PSTs’ beliefs transformed throughout their formal teacher preparation. Five typologies were identified, showing variation in how PST beliefs transform or remain static.

Among the findings, strong support related to the development of innovative beliefs during coursework coupled with at least one transformative experience where innovation was observed ‘working’ in the field were sufficient for the transformation to innovative beliefs, despite potential constraints by supervisors, cooperating teachers and/or mandated curricula (Typology 3). Another finding revealed disguised growth toward innovation among those in Typology 5, who reported being innovative and having productive beliefs but described extremely traditional practices. Implications call for improved connections between mathematics methods professors and field supervisors, particularly during clinical internships when PSTs are no longer enrolled in methods courses, to enhance PSTs’ productive struggle in their development of innovative beliefs (T3) and to increase opportunities for disconnects between innovative beliefs and traditional practices to be made explicit and negotiated (T5).     

On a sublattice of the lattice of congruences on a θ-regular semigroup

Let S be a regular semigroup. The lattice of all idempotent-separating congruences on S and the lattice of all group congruences on S are both modular sublattices of the full lattice of congruences on S. It is evident that the set theoretical union of these two sublattices, (S), is also a sublattice of the full lattice of congruences on S. It is natural to ask: Under what conditions is the sublattice (S) modular? In this paper we obtain a necessary and sufficient condition for the sublattice (S) to be modular when S is what we call a θ-regular semigroup. Bisimple ω-semigroups and simple regular ω-semigroups are θ-regular semigroups and so this paper extends the work of Munn [5] and Baird [1].     

Fast solvers for discretized Navier-Stokes problems using vector extrapolation

We discuss the design and implementation of a vector extrapolation method for computing numerical solutions of the steady-state Navier-Stokes equation system. We describe a “proof of concept” implementation of vector extrapolation, and we illustrate its effectiveness when integrated into the Incompressible Flow Iterative Solution Software (IFISS) package ( http://www.manchester.ac.uk/ifiss).     

Des extensions plus petites que leurs groupes de Galois

In this article we construct some Galois extensions L∕K with finite Galois groups and such that |Gal(L∕K)|>[L:K]. Using an analog of the Noether method, we explain how to obtain, with a fixed center, such a Galois curiosity with a Galois group as large as we want.

Résumé : Dans cet article, nous construisons une extension galoisienne L∕K à groupe de Galois fini et telle que |Gal(L∕K)|>[L:K]. En utilisant un analogue non commutatif de la méthode de Noether, nous expliquons ensuite comment, à centre fixé, l’on peut construire une telle curiosité galoisienne avec un groupe aussi gros que l’on veut.

Mots clés : Corps gauches; théorie de Galois.     

Analytic order of singular and critical points

We deal with the following closely related problems: (i) For a germ of a reduced plane analytic curve, what is the minimal degree of an algebraic curve with a singular point analytically equivalent (isomorphic) to the given one? (ii) For a germ of a holomorphic function in two variables with an isolated critical point, what is the minimal degree of a polynomial, equivalent to the given function up to a local holomorphic coordinate change? Classically known estimates for such a degree in these questions are , where is the Milnor number. Our result in both the problems is with an absolute constant . As a corollary, we obtain asymptotically proper sufficient conditions for the existence of algebraic curves with prescribed singularities on smooth algebraic surfaces.

     

Finite number of fibre products of Kummer covers and curves with many points over finite fields

We study fibre products of a finite number of Kummer covers of the projective line over finite fields. We determine the number of rational points of the fibre product over a rational point of the projective line, which improves the results of Özbudak and Temür (Appl Algebra Eng Commun Comput 18:433–443, 2007) substantially. We also construct explicit examples of fibre products of Kummer covers with many rational points, including a record and two new entries for the current table (http://www.manypoints.org, 2011).     

Restrictions of bounded linear operators: Closed range

Let be a bounded linear operator on a Banach space and let be a subspace of which is a Banach space and invariant. Denote by the restriction of to This paper explores the questions:

If the range of is closed, under what conditions is the range of closed?

If the range of is closed, under what conditions is the range of closed?

     

Joint mean oscillation and local ideals in the Toeplitz algebra

We introduce the joint local mean oscillation LMO and discuss to what extent this function-theoretical quantity serves as a -algebraic invariant in the full Toeplitz algebra

     

Automorphism Groups and Invariant Subspace Lattices

Let be a - dynamical system and let be the analytic subalgebra of . We extend the work of Loebl and the first author that relates the invariant subspace structure of for a -representation on a Hilbert space , to the possibility of implementing on We show that if is irreducible and if lat is trivial, then is ultraweakly dense in We show, too, that if satisfies what we call the strong Dirichlet condition, then the ultraweak closure of is a nest algebra for each irreducible representation Our methods give a new proof of a ``density' theorem of Kaftal, Larson, and Weiss and they sharpen earlier results of ours on the representation theory of certain subalgebras of groupoid -algebras.

     

Graded annihilators of modules over the Frobenius skew polynomial ring, and tight closure

This paper is concerned with the tight closure of an ideal in a commutative Noetherian local ring of prime characteristic . Several authors, including R. Fedder, K-i. Watanabe, K. E. Smith, N. Hara and F. Enescu, have used the natural Frobenius action on the top local cohomology module of such an to good effect in the study of tight closure, and this paper uses that device. The main part of the paper develops a theory of what are here called `special annihilator submodules' of a left module over the Frobenius skew polynomial ring associated to ; this theory is then applied in the later sections of the paper to the top local cohomology module of and used to show that, if is Cohen-Macaulay, then it must have a weak parameter test element, even if it is not excellent.

     

On the irreducibility of the iterates of

Let be a field and suppose that is irreducible in . We discuss the following question: under what conditions are all iterates of irreducible over ?

     

Subsonic irrotational flows in a two-dimensional finitely long curved nozzle

This is a continuation of our previous paper Du et al. (http://www.ims.cuhk.edu.hk/publications/reports/2012-06.pdf), where we have characterized a set of physical boundary conditions that ensures the existence and uniqueness of subsonic irrotational flow in a flat nozzle. In this paper, we will investigate the influence of the incoming flow angle and the geometry structure of the nozzle walls on subsonic flows in a finitely long curved nozzle. It turns out to be interesting that the incoming flow angle and the angle of inclination of nozzle walls play the same role as the end pressure for the stabilization of subsonic flows. In other words, the L ² and L ^∞ bounds of the derivative of these two quantities cannot be too large, similar as we have indicated in Du et al. (http://www.ims.cuhk.edu.hk/publications/reports/2012-06.pdf) for the end pressure. The curvatures of the nozzle walls will also play an important role in the stability of the subsonic flow.     

A note on Fuchs' Problem 34

We investigate to what extent an abelian group is determined by the homomorphism groups where is chosen from a set of abelian groups. In particular, we address Problem 34 in Professor Fuchs' book which asks if can be chosen in such a way that the homomorphism groups determine up to isomorphism. We show that there is a negative answer to this question. On the other hand, there is a set which determines the torsion-free groups of finite rank up to quasi-isomorphism.