Name: Christa Bauer
Classification: junior
Hometown: Sugar Land
Major: Mathematics
Research topic: The G-Graph: Paths, circuits, groups and graphs that can be generated by specific generating sets
Synopsis of research: Bauer is one of four Lamar University undergraduates working with a faculty mentor, Dr. Jennifer Daniel, on grant-funded research, first through the National Research Experience for Undergraduates Program and now through the Center for Undergraduate Research in Mathematics. The group is investigating the G-graph, a new concept in mathematics first introduced in 2004. Their work on Hamiltonian and Eulerian paths and circuits associated with the G-graph could be of particular interest to computer scientists and electrical engineers searching for the most efficient means to accomplish a given task. The work has allowed Bauer and the undergraduates she works with to prove several theorems that have never been proved in mathematics, something many graduate students never have an opportunity to do.
Dates of research: Spring 2007 to present
Publications/Presentations: Presentations at the Southern Regional Weekend Algebra Conference in Lafayette, La., in September 2007 and the Texas Undergraduate Mathematics Conference in Huntsville in November 2007. Additional presentations planned in March 2008 at the Spring Research Conference at Brigham Young University and in April 2008 at the Mathematical Association of America’s Texas section meeting in Stephenville. Paper submitted to the math journal “Involve.”
Faculty mentor: Dr. Jennifer Daniel
Christa Bauer: “None of this would have been possible if it were not for the support of Dr. Daniel. She has been wonderful. She has been very patient and very supportive. Doing mathematical research can be very frustrating, but she’s just very calming. She tells us it will be OK and gives us a little nudge when we need it.”
