The welcome will take place together with the Institute Director Prof Dr Andreas Stein in the large lecture theatre W03 1-161.

Why does everyone find secrets, hackers and code-breakers in films so exciting? Why is Internet shopping and Internet banking so secure? Why are the new ID card and passport so difficult to forge? Can't anyone listen in on my mobile phone? Will quantum computers be able to read our secrets in the future?

These are the kinds of questions this lecture will address. We will see that maths plays an important role in everyday life.

Prof Dr Andreas Stein

A mathematical competition in teamwork for groups of 2-4 pupils. The best teams are honoured with certificates and prizes. The competition consists of tasks that challenge different mathematical skills, especially logical thinking and reasoning. The groups can pursue different solution strategies, e.g. solve the tasks together or divide them up among themselves. Calculators are allowed.

Why don't you try solving the following problem (from a previous competition): The planet Brick has the shape of a cuboid with edge lengths of 10 m, 20 m and 40 m and is completely covered with grass. A goat is pegged in the centre of one of the largest sides. What is the minimum length of the rope required for the goat to graze the entire planet?
(The shorter the justified rope length, the more points you get for this task).

In our digitalised world, we rely on personal data not being freely accessible to strangers. For example, we don't want everyone to be able to read our private chats. Crypto systems are used for this purpose. But how exactly can messages be encrypted? And how can we ensure that only I and my "counterpart" know how the messages can be decrypted again? We will learn about a method for easily converting text messages into ciphertext and how to exchange the required key.

M.Sc. Mike Klußmann

We have three former maths students as guests. All three have already started their careers and will talk about their studies in retrospect and how they use their acquired skills in their current professional lives. Questions from the audience are welcome.

Prof Dr Marcus C. Christiansen

Here you can find the current menu of the canteen in Wechloy.

Please note that only cash payment is possible in the canteen.

Digital data transmission in a fibre optic cable is roughly simplified by the fact that 0s and 1s are transmitted one after the other. The physical realisation of a 1 is achieved by a short light pulse. In physical terms, this consists of a modulated electromagnetic wave. The numerical simulation of this system in a 1000 km long cable using Maxwell's equations is impossible: the wavelength of light is in the micrometre range, i.e. ^10-6 m. In order to resolve the electromagnetic wave, the cable must therefore be divided into ^10-9 m long sections. With a length of 1000km = 10⁶ m, this results in a total of 10¹² points, plus radial directions of the cable and time discretisation, a number far too large even for modern computers. Therefore, an approximation equation, the non-linear Schrödinger equation, is usually derived for the envelope of the pulse, which leads to an enormous dimensional reduction.

The lecture will present fundamental ideas on this and further
applications of mathematical analysis in this field.

Prof. Dr Hannes Uecker

The best teams in the competition will also be honoured with certificates and prizes at the joint farewell ceremony in the main auditorium.

As the central contact point in the foyer, the information stand is run by the student body for mathematics. Here you can ask questions about the Day of Mathematics as well as about studying.