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"I was told there would be math"
Topic Started: Mar 21 2015, 06:10 AM (506 Views)
George K
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Finally
Baltimore Raven publishes study in math journal.

One of the Baltimore Ravens Just Published an Insanely Complex Study in a Math Journal

John Urschel worries that his hitting position could interfere with his future as a math scholar.

John Urschel, an offensive lineman for the Baltimore Ravens, recently co-authored a paper in the Journal of Computational Mathematics. It is titled "A Cascadic Multigrid Algorithm for Computing the Fiedler Vector of Graph Laplacians" and apparently includes "a cascadic multigrid algorithm for fast computation of the Fiedler vector of a graph Laplacian, namely, the eigenvector corresponding to the second smallest eigenvalue." I understand close to none of the words in that sentence, which comes from the paper's abstract. I probably never will. The rest of the study is similarly accessible. See some highlights below:


Posted Image

Urschel, who was drafted in 2014 to block for Joe Flacco, had a 4.0 grade point average at Penn State and has been published in several mathematical journals. He is also an accomplished chess player. For a living, he uses his body as a bulldozer. His family, he says, wonders why he would spend his time in such a way. The answer is, apparently, that he just enjoys leveling people.

"There’s a rush you get when you go out on the field, lay everything on the line and physically dominate the player across from you. This is a feeling I’m (for lack of a better word) addicted to," wrote Urschel in a post this week on the Players Tribune. Urschel said he was jealous of Chris Borland, the San Francisco 49ers linebacker who retired from football this month at the age of 24 because he was worried about head trauma. "Playing a hitting position in the NFL can’t possibly help your long-term mental health," Urschel acknowledged, before rattling off a list of reasons why his mental health might be particularly valuable, including a "bright career ahead of me in mathematics." The problem is that Urschel likes to crush his peers too much. ("I love hitting people," he confirms.) Too bad you can't hit people with pi.
A guide to GKSR: Click

"Now look here, you Baltic gas passer... "
- Mik, 6/14/08


Nothing is as effective as homeopathy.

I'd rather listen to an hour of Abba than an hour of The Beatles.
- Klaus, 4/29/18
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jon-nyc
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Cheers
Probably doesn't beat his wife.
In my defense, I was left unsupervised.
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Mikhailoh
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If you want trouble, find yourself a redhead
Not anymore.
Once in his life, every man is entitled to fall madly in love with a gorgeous redhead - Lucille Ball
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George K
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Finally
jon-nyc
Mar 21 2015, 06:19 AM
Probably doesn't beat his wife.
At chess, he probably does.
A guide to GKSR: Click

"Now look here, you Baltic gas passer... "
- Mik, 6/14/08


Nothing is as effective as homeopathy.

I'd rather listen to an hour of Abba than an hour of The Beatles.
- Klaus, 4/29/18
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jon-nyc
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:lol:
In my defense, I was left unsupervised.
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jon-nyc
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Although I don't really know if that journal is a vanity publisher. Might be given that he's getting published as an undergrad.
In my defense, I was left unsupervised.
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George K
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jon-nyc
Mar 21 2015, 06:39 AM
Although I don't really know if that journal is a vanity publisher.
http://scholarlyoa.com/2013/05/02/horizon-research-publishing-corporation/

Quote:
 
Recently launched, and with 66 brand-new journals, Horizon Research Publishing Corporation carefully hides its headquarters location on its website. The “contact us” page does not list any location. [Update, 2013-06-08: The website now lists this address: Horizon Research Publishing 506 N GARFIELD AVE #210 ALHAMBRA CA 91801 USA].

Its spam email is signed, “Horizon Research Publishing, USA,” but I doubt it’s really from the United States. The publisher uses the URL http://zj.nkwww.com/, which is registered to Wanlun Guo in Linyi, Shandong, China. So apparently this is a Chinese operation and the spam email is misrepresenting the publisher’s true location. [See a copy of the spam email in Appendix B, below.]

None of the 66 journals has any content yet, and none appears to have editorial boards either. Horizon is currently engaged in a massive spam email campaign to recruit editorial board members. Strangely all the journals have live “Submit manuscript” buttons, so the publisher seems willing to accept papers despite not having any established editorial boards.
...
46. Universal Journal of Computational Mathematics


Don't know if it's the same "journal", but the name is suspiciously similar.

Here's the site for the "Journal of Computational Mathematics:

http://www.global-sci.org/jcm/

A guide to GKSR: Click

"Now look here, you Baltic gas passer... "
- Mik, 6/14/08


Nothing is as effective as homeopathy.

I'd rather listen to an hour of Abba than an hour of The Beatles.
- Klaus, 4/29/18
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Axtremus
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HOLY CARP!!!
Found via Google Scholar:

http://arxiv.org/abs/1412.0565

Preprint of the full paper:

http://arxiv.org/pdf/1412.0565v1.pdf

The journal's editors seem predominantly Chinese:

http://www.global-sci.org/jcm/

Ultimately, the paper would have to be judged by its own merit.
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jon-nyc
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Well, that's pretty much always the case, but the quality of the journal certainly updates your Bayesian priors.
In my defense, I was left unsupervised.
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JBryan
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I am the grey one
And helps those who would rather not try to wade through pages of math.
"Any man who would make an X rated movie should be forced to take his daughter to see it". - John Wayne


There is a line we cross when we go from "I will believe it when I see it" to "I will see it when I believe it".


Henry II: I marvel at you after all these years. Still like a democratic drawbridge: going down for everybody.

Eleanor: At my age there's not much traffic anymore.

From The Lion in Winter.
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jon-nyc
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But seriously, regardless of this journal, the guy has a masters in mathematics from penn state, no doubt he's in the absolute top subpercentile of smart in the NFL. Good for him.
In my defense, I was left unsupervised.
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Mikhailoh
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If you want trouble, find yourself a redhead
Like that's a distinction. "You are the Smartest Neanderthal of 2015!".
Once in his life, every man is entitled to fall madly in love with a gorgeous redhead - Lucille Ball
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Klaus
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HOLY CARP!!!
I'm too lazy to look up the credentials and impact factors of these journals, but Google scholar does in fact not list a single citation. This does not necessarily mean that he is bad at maths, but it means that he is not any kind of "star".

Also, while the formulas may look impressive, this is in fact rather applied mathematics. That doesn't make it less worthwhile, but he is not some kind of theory genius.
Trifonov Fleisher Klaus Sokolov Zimmerman
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Mikhailoh
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If you want trouble, find yourself a redhead
Snob. :lol:
Once in his life, every man is entitled to fall madly in love with a gorgeous redhead - Lucille Ball
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Axtremus
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HOLY CARP!!!
There are others who can check for the correctness of the mathematics presented. Most of the time, for papers like this, I just look at what they argue are new contributions to the field to see whether that is indeed novel, and look at the results to see if any improvement they claim to make is significant.
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Mikhailoh
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If you want trouble, find yourself a redhead
Poser. :lol:
Once in his life, every man is entitled to fall madly in love with a gorgeous redhead - Lucille Ball
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Horace
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HOLY CARP!!!
The NFL administers a test called the Wonderlic to all Combine invitees. It's more or less an IQ test. That guy had the highest score of all the several hundred players tested, a 43/50. In the general population, 38 is in the 99th percentile.
As a good person, I implore you to do as I, a good person, do. Be good. Do NOT be bad. If you see bad, end bad. End it in yourself, and end it in others. By any means necessary, the good must conquer the bad. Good people know this. Do you know this? Are you good?
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jon-nyc
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Did he have the highest of those tested this year, or of those ever tested?
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Horace
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HOLY CARP!!!
The highest the year he was tested, which was 2014. There's been one perfect score at the Combine, by a punter from Harvard.
As a good person, I implore you to do as I, a good person, do. Be good. Do NOT be bad. If you see bad, end bad. End it in yourself, and end it in others. By any means necessary, the good must conquer the bad. Good people know this. Do you know this? Are you good?
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jon-nyc
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Is this a test we can take online?
In my defense, I was left unsupervised.
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Horace
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HOLY CARP!!!
I don't think so. The Wonderlic is a business and they don't give their stuff away. There are some example questions floating around, and maybe some fake ones, but nothing real as far as I know.
As a good person, I implore you to do as I, a good person, do. Be good. Do NOT be bad. If you see bad, end bad. End it in yourself, and end it in others. By any means necessary, the good must conquer the bad. Good people know this. Do you know this? Are you good?
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George K
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Finally
jon-nyc
Mar 21 2015, 06:08 PM
Is this a test we can take online?
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wonderlic_test#Sample_questions
Quote:
 
Similar to other standardized tests, the Wonderlic Cognitive Ability Test presents its questions in an open response format that becomes increasingly more difficult as one progresses through the test.[4] The types of questions that have appeared in the oldest versions of the Wonderlic test include: analogies, analysis of geometric figures, arithmetic, direction following, disarranged sentences, judgment, logic, proverb matching, similarities, and word definitions. However, the questions may take different angles depending upon the ‘intelligence’ of the question setters. [4][7][10] Practice questions will include:

When a rope is selling 20 cents per 2 feet, how many feet can you buy for 30 dollars?
Which of the numbers in this group represents the smallest amount? a) 0.3 b) 0.08 c) 1 d) 0.33

Abbreviated, unofficial versions of the test are available online.[17][18] While these tests are not nearly as complex as the original Wonderlic test, nor authorized by Wonderlic, they follow many of the same concepts.

A simplified and condensed version of the Wonderlic test appears in newer editions of the Madden NFL video game series.[3] The Madden version of the test is taken in "Superstar Mode" portion of the game, to make the game experience more realistic, although, it is now optional.[19][20] The questions usually consist of basic math and English questions. For example, "If Adrian Peterson rushes for 125 yards in a game, how many yards will he have at the end of the season if he keeps up with this pace?". Players have four answers to choose from when taking this version of the test


And this: http://sports.espn.go.com/espn/page2/story?page=wonderlic/090218
A guide to GKSR: Click

"Now look here, you Baltic gas passer... "
- Mik, 6/14/08


Nothing is as effective as homeopathy.

I'd rather listen to an hour of Abba than an hour of The Beatles.
- Klaus, 4/29/18
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jon-nyc
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Ok, so I'm really liking this guy. He tweeted this joke:

Q: Why did the topologist's marriage fail?
A: He thought all arbitrary unions were open.


More of his tweets here:

http://deadspin.com/ravens-lineman-john-urschel-loves-math-more-than-you-lo-1692687404

In my defense, I was left unsupervised.
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Klaus
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HOLY CARP!!!
jon-nyc
Mar 23 2015, 06:57 AM
Q: Why did the topologist's marriage fail?
A: He thought all arbitrary unions were open.
That joke doesn't really work.
Trifonov Fleisher Klaus Sokolov Zimmerman
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jon-nyc
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It worked for me, but I haven't read any set theory in 25 years.
In my defense, I was left unsupervised.
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