PRIMES: Program for Research In Mathematics, Engineering, and Science for high school Students

Massachusetts Institute Of Technology, Cambridge MA

Investigators

Abstract

MIT PRIMES is a free, year-long research program for high school students at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. The goal of PRIMES is to give talented high school students a unique experience of real mathematical research, letting them discover the joy and beauty of mathematical exploration; to inspire them to pursue careers in the mathematical sciences; and to diversify the pool of students interested in mathematics by providing additional opportunities for promising students with underprivileged backgrounds. This project funds the local Mathematics Section of PRIMES. PRIMES students will work on their research projects during the academic year, aided by weekly meetings with their mentors (MIT Mathematics Department graduate students) on the MIT campus. The projects will be presented at annual PRIMES conferences, and final papers will be posted on the Program website and disseminated through arXiv.org and academic journals. This project will fund research by high school students and their mentors in the following areas: quantum Schubert calculus, Ramsey multiplicity, the Richter-Thomassen conjecture and related topics, signatures of Hermitian forms arising in representation theory, structure of lower central series of associative algebras, and properties of closed polygonal paths with steps being roots of unity.