Contact | Teaching | Présentations | Oeuvres | CV | Notes | Resources | Curriculum |

Organized by Arun Ram and Aru Ray Department of Mathematics and Statistics University of Melbourne Parkville VIC 3010 Australia aram@unimelb.edu.au

ART could stand for, Arun's Rehearsal Time, or Around Research and Teaching, or Advanced Representation Theory, or Advice Reactions and Tribulations, or Art Revelations and Transcendence. All of these could be suitable titles for this seminar, depending on the week. Sometimes there will be outside speakers, and sometimes it will a collection of thoughts and material curated by the organizer or some other speaker.

EVERYONE is welcome to attend and participate. Please do contact me if you have even the slightest interest in presenting in this seminar. There are no "rules" for this seminar. Let's discuss.

The record of ART seminars for 2025 is found at the link ART seminars 2025

---

Seminars in January 2026

1. Location: Room 162 Peter Hall Building University of Melbourne
   Time: 15:30-17:00 on Tuesday 27 January 2026
   Presenters/Facilitators: David Ridout and Dhruv Gupta
   Title: The mathamagic of Vacation Scholarships
   Abstract: All about choosing and working and living the Vacation Scholarship experience.
   
   
2. Location: Room 162 (Alison Harcourt Seminar Room) Peter Hall Building University of Melbourne
   Time: 15:30-17:00 on Tuesday 13 January 2026
   Presenter/facilitator: Arun Ram
   Title: Linear algebra 1,2,3
   Abstract: What you actually need to know.
   Music Intro: Yuja Wang -- Philip Glass Piano Etude No. 6 https://youtu.be/rWMQMd2VKEk?si=U_tuIqs2qk-eo73r
   
   
3. Location: Room 162 (Alison Harcourt Seminar Room) Peter Hall Building University of Melbourne
   Time: 15:30-17:00 on Tuesday 20 January 2026
   Presenter/facilitator: Sepideh Mohammadi
   Title: Motivated by the CRing project
   Abstract: The CRings project and a generalization of a depth result from the local case to the semilocal case.
   Music Intro: Seiji Ozawa -- Bach Air https://youtu.be/5G7Vc0zFnOM?si=j-QwQaUYEC8jhRj7
   
   

---

The program below is currently under construction. Some ideas are below but the ordering and timing and topics are, at the moment, only suggestive and may change. Please give me your suggestions and requests regarding the program.

Please do contact me if you have even the slightest interest in presenting in this seminar. There are no "rules" for this seminar. Let's discuss.

---

Possible future seminars: Tell Arun Ram if you have an interest in having any of these in the Seminar

• Location: Room 162 Peter Hall Building University of Melbourne
  Time: 15:30-17:00 on Tuesday 3 February 2026
  Presenter/facilitator: Arun Ram
  Title: Counting and polynomials -- Catalan and Hodge
  Abstract: Carefully counting points in spaces over finite fields produces (q,t) versions of Catalan numbers that specialize to usual Catalan numbers at q=t=1. These (q,t) polynomials are Hodge polynomials of affine Springer fibers, moduli spaces of Higgs bundles, character varieties and braid varieties. A more refined packaging of the point counts gives symmetric functions that capture the structure of representations of the symmetric group that have been studied by Garsia, Haiman and many others (generalized diagonal coinvariants).
  
  
• Location: Room 162 Peter Hall Building University of Melbourne
  Time: 15:30-17:00 on Tuesday 10 February 2026
  Presenters/facilitators: Chris Duffy and Trithang Tran
  Title: Writing assessments in Real analysis
  Abstract: How and why they are so rewarding.
  
  
• Location: Room 162 Peter Hall Building University of Melbourne
  Time: 15:30-17:00 on Tuesday 17 February 2026
  Presenters/facilitators: Aru Ray
  Title: Decomposition for good
  Abstract: Given a partition D of a topological space X, we can consider the quotient X/D, namely the space obtained by collapsing the points in each element of D to an individual point. Under what conditions on D can we conclude that X and X/D are homeomorphic? This is the central question in "decomposition space theory", which is responsible for some of the most counterintuitive theorems in topology - Brown's (Schoenflies) theorem, Cannon's double suspension theorem, and Freedman's disc embedding theorem.
  
  
• Location: Room 162 Peter Hall Building University of Melbourne
  Time: 15:30-17:00 on Tuesday 24 February 2026
  Presenters/facilitators: Adam Monteleone
  Title: Mirror Symmetry for Quintic Hypersurfaces
  Abstract: How dualities from String theory turned period integrals into curve counts.
  
  
• Location: Room 162 Peter Hall Building University of Melbourne
  Time: 15:30-17:00 on Tuesday 10 March 2026
  Presenters/facilitators: Gypsy Akhyar
  Title: Math conference experiences
  Abstract: blow your mind. How to have them, organize them, pay for them and be inspired.
  
  
• Location: Room 162 Peter Hall Building University of Melbourne
  Time: 15:30-17:00 on Tuesday 24 March 2026
  Presenters/facilitators: Sara Billey
  Title: 3D printing the affine symmetric group
  Abstract: TBA
  
  
• Location: Room 162 Peter Hall Building University of Melbourne
  Time: 15:30-17:00 on Tuesday ?? February 2026
  Presenters/facilitators: ????????
  Title: Travel Stories
  Abstract: Stories, stories, stories
  
  
• Location: Room 162 Peter Hall Building University of Melbourne
  Time: 15:30-17:00 on Tuesday 1????? January 2025
  Presenter/facilitator: Arun Ram
  Title: Scenes from the movie Amadeus
  Abstract: This talk will be an analysis of selected music, delivery, content from the movie and how it relates to a career in mathematics research.
  
  
• Location: Room 162 Peter Hall Building University of Melbourne
  Time: 15:30-17:00 on Tuesday ????? January 2025
  Presenter/facilitator: Arun Ram
  Title: Readings
  Abstract: Readings from favorites: Feynman, Anne of Green Gables, Solzhenitsyn, Consuelo, Tolkein, ... TBA
  
  
• Location: Room 162 Peter Hall Building University of Melbourne
  Time: 15:30-17:00 on Tuesday ????? January 2025
  Presenter/facilitator: Arun Ram
  Title: Some poems
  Abstract: Sunbeams, Queensland, The Mossman Cane cutters, Come let's away to prison, BeHolding, The tallest of the pines, TBA
  
  
• Location: Room 162 Peter Hall Building University of Melbourne
  Time: 15:30-17:00 on Tuesday ?????? 2025
  Presenter/facilitator: Arun Ram
  Title: Compiling and curating 40 years of Calculus teaching
  Abstract: What do we actually teach in Calculus? What are good ways to say this? to 19 year olds? We'll explore why and how this is the most thrilling and midblowing activity one can undertake in a lifetime.
  
  
• Location: Room 162 Peter Hall Building University of Melbourne
  Time: 15:30-17:00 on Tuesday ???????? 2025
  Presenter/facilitator: Arun Ram
  Title: Thinking about discovery model learning
  Abstract: TBA
  
  
• Location: Room 162 Peter Hall Building University of Melbourne
  Time: 15:30-17:00 on Tuesday ???????? 2025
  Presenter/facilitator: Arun Ram
  Title: A new plan for the undergraduate math curriculum
  Abstract: TBA
  
  
• Location: Room 162 Peter Hall Building University of Melbourne
  Time: 15:30-17:00 on Tuesday ???????? 2025
  Presenter/facilitator: Arun Ram
  Title: Why learn Chapter II of Macdonald' book on symmetric functions?
  Abstract: TBA
  
  
• Location: Room 162 Peter Hall Building University of Melbourne
  Time: 15:30-17:00 on Tuesday ???????? 2025
  Presenter/facilitator: Arun Ram
  Title: Why learn Chapter II of Macdonald' book on symmetric functions?
  Abstract: TBA
  
  
• Location: Room 162 Peter Hall Building University of Melbourne
  Time: 15:30-17:00 on Tuesday ???????? 2025
  Presenter/facilitator: Arun Ram
  Title: Career secrets: How to be a mentor
  Abstract: TBA
  
  
• Location: Room 162 Peter Hall Building University of Melbourne
  Time: 15:30-17:00 on Tuesday ???????? 2025
  Presenter/facilitator: Arun Ram
  Title: Career secrets: How to be a member of the hiring committee
  Abstract: TBA
  
  
• Location: Room 162 Peter Hall Building University of Melbourne
  Time: 15:30-17:00 on Tuesday ???????? 2025
  Presenter/facilitator: Arun Ram
  Title: Career secrets: How to apply for grants
  Abstract: TBA
  
  
• Location: Room 162 Peter Hall Building University of Melbourne
  Time: 15:30-17:00 on Tuesday ???????? 2025
  Presenter/facilitator: Arun Ram
  Title: Career secrets: How to write reports
  Abstract: TBA
  
  
• Location: Room 162 Peter Hall Building University of Melbourne
  Time: 15:30-17:00 on Tuesday ???????? 2025
  Presenter/facilitator: Arun Ram
  Title: Career secrets: How to write recommendation letters
  Abstract: TBA
  
  
• Location: Room 162 Peter Hall Building University of Melbourne
  Time: 15:30-17:00 on Tuesday ???????? 2025
  Presenter/facilitator: Arun Ram
  Title: Career secrets: How to get a job
  Abstract: TBA
  
  
• Location: Room 162 Peter Hall Building University of Melbourne
  Time: 15:30-17:00 on Tuesday ???????? 2025
  Presenter/facilitator: Arun Ram
  Title: Career secrets: How to practice effectively
  Abstract: TBA
  
  
• Location: Room 162 Peter Hall Building University of Melbourne
  Time: 15:30-17:00 on Tuesday ???????? 2025
  Presenter/facilitator: Arun Ram
  Title: Career secrets: How to procrastinate
  Abstract: TBA
  
  
• Location: Room 162 Peter Hall Building University of Melbourne
  Time: 15:30-17:00 on Tuesday ???????? 2025
  Presenter/facilitator: Arun Ram
  Title: Career secrets: How to spend money
  Abstract: TBA
  
  
• Location: Room 162 Peter Hall Building University of Melbourne
  Time: 15:30-17:00 on Tuesday ???????? 2025
  Presenter/facilitator: Arun Ram
  Title: Career secrets: How to host visitors
  Abstract: TBA
  
  
• Location: Room 162 Peter Hall Building University of Melbourne
  Time: 15:30-17:00 on Tuesday ???????? 2025
  Presenter/facilitator: Arun Ram
  Career Secrets: The inquisition
  Abstract: TBA
  
  
• Location: Room 162 Peter Hall Building University of Melbourne
  Time: 15:30-17:00 on Tuesday ???????? 2025
  Presenter/facilitator: Arun Ram
  Title: Career secrets: Shoes
  Abstract: TBA