Dr. Tim Ferguson – Basic Extremal Problems

I will talk about extremal problems, which are one of my favorite things to research. These problems involve maximizing or minimizing certain quantities (sort of like optimization in Calculus I). Even though these problems can be difficult to solve and understand, they are often simple to state. I will give some examples of these problems, and discuss some of the principles that are helpful in understanding them. I will also try to say something about extremal problems involving analytic functions (which are basically functions involving complex numbers that can be defined by power series). These are the particular type that I most often study.