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30 November 2021 | Story Leonie Bolleurs | Photo Supplied
Prof Johan Meyer, Senior Professor in the Department of Mathematics and Applied Mathematics, says he is looking forward to learning from others in the field during this collaboration.

What do trees, black holes, earthquakes, and time structures have in common? 

The answer to this question is that these, in one way or the other, form the focus of some of the abstracts delivered during the Annual Congress of the South African Mathematical Society. The society has as its main objective the advancement of mathematics in South Africa. 

The Department of Mathematics and Applied Mathematics at the University of the Free State (UFS), in conjunction with the South African Mathematical Society (SAMS 2021), is hosting the 64th Annual Congress of the society this week (29 November to 1 December 2021).

Prof Johan Meyer, Senior Professor in the department, says the congress, which is being conducted online, is focusing on all aspects of mathematics research, including history and teaching.

Learning from others in the field

The congress, which aims to share the latest research results in mathematics, will be attended by staff and students from universities across South Africa as well as abroad. “Anyone from the public is, of course, welcome to attend or even share their results if they are also involved in mathematics research,” adds Prof Meyer. 

He says that he is looking forward to learning from others in the field during this collaboration. 

The congress will include discussions on more than 120 abstracts, covering category theory, algebra, topology, logic; functional analysis and operator theory; finite groups and combinatorial structures; graph theory and combinatorics; lie symmetries and nonlinear differential equations; and applied and numerical mathematics.

Array of interesting topics presented

“It is important in many areas of science and engineering to predict and to simulate rare, random events, the occurrence of which may have negative or even catastrophic consequences. Examples include internet server overflows, mechanical breakdowns, floods, and financial crashes. Rare events can also have a positive effect, triggering for example chemical reactions or driving genetic evolution via random mutations.” Prof Hugo Touchette from Stellenbosch University will be shedding some light on this interesting topic in his presentation on Predicting and simulating rare events.

Prof Jeandrew Brink, Associate Professor in the Department of Mathematics and Applied Mathematics at the UFS, is presenting a plenary session on the topic Determining the geometry of strong field space-times in spite of tacitly assuming the answer during every measurement. In South Africa, state-of-the art pulsar timing data from the MeerKAT telescope will make a considerable contribution to conducting GR orbital tests. Prof Brink comments on how pulsar timing tests differ from tests using gravitational wave detectors, as well as what we can learn from the framework already employed to perform pulsar timing measurements.

News Archive

2010 World Cup: An opportunity for nation-building
2010-05-11

Pictured from the left, front are: Prof. Labuschagne and Prof. Cornelissen. Back: Prof. Kersting, Prof. Teuns Verschoor (Acting Senior Vice-Rector: UFS) and Dr Ralf Hermann (DAAD).
Photo: Mangaliso Radebe

“The 2010 FIFA World Cup creates a window of opportunity for nation-building in South Africa that could even surpass the opportunity created by the 1995 Rugby World Cup.”

This was according to Prof. Pieter Labuschagne from the University of South Africa, who was one of the three speakers during the lecture series on soccer that were recently presented by the Faculty of the Humanities at the University of the Free State (UFS), in conjunction with the German Academic Exchange Service (DAAD), under the theme: Soccer and Nation Building.

Prof. Labuschagne delivered a paper on the topic, The 2010 Soccer World Cup in South Africa: Nation Building or White Apathy?, highlighting the critical issue of how sport in South Africa was still largely supported along racial lines.

“We are still enforcing the separateness of rugby as a sport for whites and soccer as a sport for blacks,” he said.

He said a high degree of animosity against soccer existed among whites because they felt rugby and cricket were being singled out by parliament as far as transformation was concerned. He said that could be the reason why a large number of South African whites still supported soccer teams from foreign countries instead of local Premier Soccer League teams.

“Bridging social context between different racial groups is still a major problem, even though patriotism is comparatively high in South Africa,” added Prof. Norbert Kersting from the University of Stellenbosch, who also presented a paper on World Cup 2010 and nation building from Germany to South Africa, drawing critical comparisons on issues of national pride and identity between the 2006 World Cup in Germany and the 2010 World Cup.

“Strong leadership is needed to utilize the opportunity provided by the 2010 World Cup to build national unity as former President Nelson Mandela did with the Rugby World Cup in 1995,” said Prof. Labuschagne.

Although acknowledging the power of sport as a unifying force, Prof. Scarlett Cornelissen, also from the University of Stellenbosch, said that, since 1995, the captivating power of sport had been used to achieve political aims and that the 2010 World Cup was no different.

Amongst the reasons she advanced for her argument were that the 2010 World Cup was meant to show the world that South Africa was a capable country; that the World Cup was meant to solidify South Africa’s “African Agenda” – the African Renaissance - and also to extend the idea of the Rainbow Nation; consolidate democracy; contribute to socio-economic development and legitimize the state.

“We should not place too much emphasis on the 2010 World Cup as a nation-building instrument,” she concluded.

She presented a paper on the topic Transforming the Nation? The political legacies of the 2010 FIFA World Cup.

The aim of the lecture series was to inspire public debate on the social and cultural dimensions of soccer.

DAAD (Deutscher Akademischer Austausch Dienst) is one of the world’s largest and most respected intermediary organisations in the field of international academic cooperation.
Media Release
Issued by: Mangaliso Radebe
Assistant Director: Media Liaison
Tel: 051 401 2828
Cell: 078 460 3320
E-mail: radebemt@ufs.ac.za  
11 May 2010
 

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