HOW MATHS CAN CHANGE YOUR LIFE

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HOW MATHS CAN CHANGE YOUR LIFE
EXCITING CAREERS IN MATHEMATICS
Chris Budd
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SOME COMMON VIEWS OF MATHEMATICS

• MATHS IS HARD
• MATHS IS BORING
• MATHS HAS NOTHING TO DO WITH REAL LIFE
• ALL MATHEMATICIANS ARE MAD!

BUT I CAN SHOW YOU THAT MATHS IS IMPORTANT
IN CRIME DETECTION MEDICINE FINDING
LANDMINES
AND MANY OTHER CAREERS!!!!!!!!!
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Maths and crime Deblurring a number plate
A short crime story

• Burglar robs a bank
• Escapes in a getaway car
• Pursued by police

Nasa
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GOOD NEWS Police take a photo BAD NEWS Photo
is blurred
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SOLUTION
Find a model of the blurring process
Blurring function g
Original image f
Blurred image h

• Blurring formula
• Inverting the formula we can get rid the blur
• BUT need to know the blurring function g

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Inversion formula
h(x)
f(x)
An example of Image
Processing
Maths is widely used in the forensic service!!
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HOW MATHS WILL GET YOU ON TV

• PICTURES AND IMAGES ARE ALL AROUND US
• TV
• DVD
• COMPUTER GRAPHICS
• SPECIAL EFFECTS

IMAGES ARE STORED AS NUMBERS
USING THESE NUMBERS WE CAN PROCESS THE PICTURES
BY USING MATHEMATICS
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SOME APPLICATIONS
PRODUCING THE PICTURES IN THE FIRST PLACE
Lots of mathematicians work in computer graphics,
computer games and Hollywood
TRANSMITTING THE PICTURES WITHOUT MISTAKES
Galois
Lots of mathematicians work in IT and mobile
phone companies
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MATHS AND MEDICINE
Modern medicine has been transformed by methods
of seeing Inside you without cutting you open!

• Ultra sound sound waves
• MRI magnetism
• CAT scans X rays

ALL USE MATHS TO WORK!!
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Modern CAT scanner
CAT scanners work by casting many shadows with
X-rays and using maths to assemble these into a
picture
Lots of mathematicians work in medicine
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Some interesting mathematical facts

• Over 70 of all jobs require maths
• On average maths graduates earn more than any
  other profession
• Many degrees require maths including statistics,
  physics, engineering, economics, chemistry,
  medicine, IT, computer games, computer science,
  social-science, psychology, fashion design,
  business studies, accountancy, actuarial studies,
  electronics, aeronautics, cryptography, ..
• Without maths we would have no TV, mobile
  phones, Internet, credit cards, computer games,
  CDs, Radar, aeroplanes, DNA profiling,
• Maths is vital working out your mortgage
  payments, APR calculations, family budget
• Florence Nightingale was a mathematician

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FINALE USING MATHS TO FIND ANTI-PERSONEL LAND
MINES
Land mines are hidden in foliage and triggered by
trip wires
Land mines are well hidden .. we can use maths to
find them
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Find the trip wires in this picture
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Digital picture of foliage is taken by camera on
a long pole Image intensity f(x,y)
Trip wires are like X-Rays
R(?,?)
f(x,y)

Radon transform


y
?

x
?
Points of high intensity in R correspond to trip
wires
Isolate points and transform back to find the
wires
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Mathematics finds the land mines!
Who says that maths isnt relevant to
real life?!?