Sarah Gourlie, Graphical Studies of the Complex Geometric Series
Maryland, DC, Virginia section of the Mathematical Association of America
Spring Meeting, University of Virginia, April 2, 2005

Sarah was one of two student speakers who won awards for their presentations at this conference.  The judges cited her clear explanations, knowledge of her subject, and the level of interest of her results.  She received a $50 prize and a book.

Sarah's presentation described a graphical representation for infinite series in the complex plane. These summation graphs, as she calls them, can take on striking geometric patterns.  In her research during the summer of 2004, Sarah investigated how and why these patterns occur.  A few sample patterns are shown below.  To see the slides from her presentation, click here.