“Voting in agreeable societies”
When do majorities exist? How does the shape of the political spectrum influence the outcome? What does mathematics have to say about how people behave? When mathematical objects have a social interpretation, the associated theorems have social applications. We give examples of situations where sets model preferences, and show how extensions of classical theorems on convex sets can be used in the analysis of voting in "agreeable" societies. No advanced background in mathematics is assumed. This talk features research with undergraduates.
Biography: Francis Edward Su is a Professor of Mathematics at Harvey Mudd College, and earned his Ph.D. from Harvard University. His research is in geometric combinatorics and applications to the social sciences, and he has co-authored over a dozen papers with undergraduates. He also has a passion or teaching and popularizing mathematics. From the Mathematical Association of America, he received the 2001 Merten M. Hasse Prize for expository writing, the 2004 Henry L. Alder Award for distinguished teaching, and was the 2006 James R.C. Leitzel Lecturer. He has also served on editorial boards of the American Mathematical Monthly and Math Horizons. In his spare time he enjoys working on his "Math Fun Facts" website, which receives nearly 4,000 hits each day. He also enjoys songwriting, sports, and is active in a Christian community in LA where he can just be himself--- passion not stifled by expectation, worth not derived from accomplishments.