Mathematical Vignette

Mathematical vignettes are intended to refresh and enrich student’s understanding

and appreciation on the role of mathematics in one’s everyday life. It is a short stand-alone
piece of mathematical writing that will ultimately convey a key principle of mathematics,
usually in the simplest language that any reader can comprehend. It usually starts with
some familiar concepts in mathematics, then progresses to some unfamiliar ideas. The goal
of a vignette is to reveal a new learning out of some existing and familiar concept in
mathematics.

Structure of a Mathematical Vignette

1. It must be short (at least 4 pages but not to exceed 10 pages, double spaced, Arial or
Times Roman, Font size 12) and revolves around a single topic.
2. Be written in an expository style with a narrative flow. It may include (but not
required) formalized theorems and proofs. Mathematical detail is included where it is
unusual, especially informative or constitutes the core point.
3. Contain some significant mathematics that would be new for most of the readers.
4. Conform to scholarship standards in its physical characteristics (it is properly
constituted as a piece of writing).
5. Be mathematically honest (correct in essence but not necessarily complete in all detail).
6. Direct readers to more information, e.g references (which will be accessible readers),
web-links, or resource people.

Style: A vignette will have:

1. An opening paragraph (the hook) which will keep your reader want to keep reading, or
entice the reader to continue reading (normally including an illustration).
2. A mathematical point (illustrating some characteristic of mathematics greater than the
subject of the vignette).
3. A connection to research or applications within the last 100 years, or a new light on
classical mathematics. All themes are likely to have historical roots, but these will not
normally make up the main part of the vignette.
4. A connection between mathematics and the physical world must be established.
5. Appropriate illustrations.

Samples of mathematical vignettes are shown in the next pages.

MATHEMATICAL VIGNETTE: From Violins to Videos
Casto MITRA Jr

The great mathematician of classical times, Carl Friedrich Gauss, delighted in abstract

numerical patterns because they were beautiful and challenging. However, he also calculated the

orbit of Ceres, the first asteroid to be discovered. His innovations related to this calculation

enabled others to predict when the asteroid would appear again. This was not the only practical

application of his subject of delight. He also made major contributions to developments in

surveying, telegraphy

and understanding of magnetism. Unlike during the time of Gauss, now the classical branches of

science have grown so vast such that no one person has a good grasp of the whole of mathematics.

So, mathematicians tend to be of a style which either concentrates on the theoretical area or

practical area of mathematics. Good ideas are rare but they do not only come from those

specializing in the practical area of mathematics but equally also from those specializing in the

theoretical area of mathematics.

This paper revolves around a case history of such a development of a good idea. It is about

the combination of the pure and applied aspect of mathematics producing an amazing thing that

could not have been produced had they worked alone in their own area. It started with the study

of a vibrating violin string. The study was made not to improve the quality of a musical instrument

but as an exercise in the solution of differential equation.

 Let us say that we have a simplified violin string stretched between to points of support. If

you pull the string tension is created in it. A force is produced that pulls it back to its original

position. When you release the string it accelerates due to the said force obeying Newton's law of

motion. Because of the acceleration the string goes beyond it original position. Then the force

from the string’s tension pulls it to the opposite direction slowing it down and it comes to a stop.

This sequence is repeated. This is a verbal description. One of the purposes of mathematical

theory is to show that this verbal explanation holds true. The efforts from several mathematicians

like Isaac Newton, Brook Taylor, Jean Le Rond d’Alembert, Leondhard Euler, Daniel Bernoulli

combined were able to produce the equation that provided the explanation that holds for the

vibration of a violin string. The equation that they employed in this mathematical explanation was

then applied to describe the behaviour or vibration of the skin of the drum. They were able to

solve the wave equation of drums of different shapes. The wave equation's application was not

limited to the musical instruments but eventually became one of the two most important formulas

in mathematical physics (Einstein's formula for the relation between mass and energy being the

other). It found its application in fluid dynamics, theory of sound, and theories of electricity and

magnetism, and changed man's way of living. Theories of electricity and magnetism led to the

invention of electric motor and electric generator.

The history of electricity and magnetism was longer and more complex than that of the

wave equation. It involved both mathematical and physical theories, and important experiments

and unintentional discoveries. Early on, electricity and magnetism were seen as two distinct

phenomena. It was Michael Faraday, an

experimental physicist, who dealt with electricity and magnetism in unity. He knew that electric

current could produce a magnetic force and conversely a magnet could produce an electric current.

It took him ten years to prove this. Faraday learned through experiments that magnetic and

electrical force propagated through space along curved lines. Faraday was no mathematician. It

was his successor James Clerk Maxwell who developed the mathematical equations to express

Faraday's idea about the lines of force. He refined his theory using four elegant differential

equations that related changes in magnetic field to changes in the electric field. A series of

algebraic manipulations extracted the wave equation showing the existence of electromagnetic

waves. The wave equation showed that electromagnetic waves travelled at the speed of light

because they are light. Visible electromagnetic waves of different frequencies

produce different colours. The practical application of Maxwell's theory was validated by

experiments of Heinrich Hertz that produced

electromagnetic waves (at the frequency of the now radio waves) and detected them and finally by

Guglielmo Marconi who successfully transmitted and received the first transatlantic radio signal

in 1901.

Radar, television, and videotape followed. The aforementioned is a short account of the

long and complex interaction among mathematics, physics, engineering and finance that lead to

the mentioned inventions. There is no single person, for example, that could claim the credit for

the invention of radio. There is no single person who has the time, energy and imagination to

discover the concepts and build the tools (even if they are just intellectual tools) to build the tools

that lead to the mentioned inventions.

 The violin-string equation (along one dimensional line) is much more simple than

Maxwells' wave equation (in three-dimensional space). If someone in the past attempted to set-

out to invent wireless telegraphy no one would know how or where to start. The process has to

start with something simple. Mathematics allows us to discover the simplicities of nature and it

allows us to make generalizations about the complexities of the real world based on the simple

examples. A useful product is developed from a mathematical insight through the combined

contribution from among many different people from many different areas of knowledge and

expertise.

References

Read more about Birkhoff’s work at Science News:

A Measure of Beauty
BY IVARS PETERSON , MAY 20, 2004
https://www.sciencenews.org/article/measure-beauty

Read about LiveScience:

Symmetry in Nature: Fundamental Fact or Human Bias?
By Ker Than, December 21, 2005
http://www.livescience.com/4002-symmetry-nature-fundamental-fact-human-bias.html

Read about Symmetry Breaking:

Nobel Prize Blogging: Symmetry Breaking
by Mark C. Chu-Carroll, October 7, 2008
http://scienceblogs.com/goodmath/2008/10/07/nobel-prize-blogging-symmetry/

Read about: Symmetry and Breaking it

Jon Butterworth, February 2015
https://www.theguardian.com/science/life-and-physics/2015/feb/04/symmetry-and-breaking-it

Read about: Born from broken symmetry

By Marianne Freiberger, October 2008
https://plus.maths.org/content/born-broken-symmetry