Revision as of 19:18, 5 June 2017

Project Description

I am researching (i,j)-step competition graphs while attending the ten-week Marquette REU; my mentor is Dr. Kim A.S. Factor. I will, initially, be doing background reading with Carissa Babcock and then we will branch into our own research questions. As my research becomes more personalized, I will contribute more to this description. My weekly log can be found below.

Background Reading

I felt having a list of the background reading I am doing would be helpful. Hence, I have created one below. These readings include the ones Dr. Factor gave me and the ones I have found.

• BioMath: The Biology and Mathematics of Food Webs by Midge Cozzens, Nancy Crisler, Randi Rotjan, and Tom Fleetwood
• Chapter 3 from Applied Combinatorics by Fred S. Roberts
• (i,j) Competition Graphs by Kim A.S. Hefner, Kathryn F. Jones, Suh-ryung Kim, J. Richard Lundgren, and Fred S. Roberts.
• The (1,2)-step competition graph of a tournament by Kim A.S. Factor and Sarah K. Merz
• An Introduction to (1,2)-Domination Graphs by Kim A.S. Factor
• The m-step, same-step, and any-step competition graphs by Wei ho
• Connected triangle-free m-step competition graphs by Geir T. Helleloid
• The m-step competition graph of a digraph by Han Hyuk Cho, Suh-Ryun Kim, and Yunsun Nam
• A Characterization of Competition Graphs by R.D. Dutton and R.C. Brigham
• Interval Graphs and Food Webs: A finding and a Problem by Joel E. Cohen

Project Log

Week 1 (5/30/17-6/2/17)

Day 1 (5/30/17)

• Attended MSCS REU orientation
• Met with mentor, Dr. Kim A.S. Factor, and began discussing project details
• Dr. Factor and I discussed goals: having BioMath: The Biology and Mathematics of Food Webs done by Thursday and reading The (1,2)-step competition graph of a tournament (by Kim A.S. Factor and Sarah Merz) by Monday
• Completed pages 1 through 30 of BioMath: The Biology and Mathematics of Food Webs. I plan on finishing the packet tomorrow and seeing how far I can get through chapter 3 of Applied Combinatorics by Fred S. Roberts

Day 2 (5/31/17)

• Attended library orientation
• Finished the BioMath packet.
• Began reading The (1,2)-step competition graph of a tournament
• Began reading chapter 3 of Applied Combinatorics.

Day 3 (6/1/17)

• Attended a talk on good research practices by Dr. Kim Factor
• Filled out direct deposit form
• Met with Dr. Kim Factor and drafted the milestones and discussed moving our lunch with Carissa to Wednesday
• Reviewed milestones and compared them to the program's google calendar
• Printed additional readings for the weekend
• Continued reading chapter 3 of Applied Combinatorics
• Continued reading The (1,2)-step competition graph of a tournament

Day 4 (6/2/17)

• Uploaded a pdf of my milestones for the summer
• Worked on chapter 3 of Applied Combinatorics
• Continued reading The (1,2)-step competition graph of a tournament
• Began reviewing other papers
• Created project's Wiki page

Reflection: End of Week 1

Concerning my research, this week was relatively uninteresting. That is, I spent most of my time trying to find literature (beyond what Dr. Factor gave me), working through background readings, and finding a good work area. Of those three tasks, I spent most of my time on finding a good work area was my top priority; I can happily say I completed this task. I cannot wait to really dig into my research--make it past the background reading.

I accomplished my goals for this week. I attended various meetings, orientations, and finished the BioMath module, among others. I intend on furthering my research this weekend. Specifically, I hope to read multiple papers and complete chapter 3 from Applied Combinatorics. Next week, I'll be meeting Carissa on Tuesday, and we'll finally discuss the material Dr. Factor gave us; I'm excited.

Week 2 (6/5/17-6/9/17)

Day 1 (6/5/17)

• Finished reading chapter 3 from Applied Combinatorics
• Created a LaTex document where I am writing my notes on Applied Combinatorics--a link to it is here, please note it is still in progress
• Created a LaTex document for teaching Carissa TeX
• Configured the printer in room 410
• Finished formatting my personal wiki and began a rough draft of the project's wiki
• Confirmed a meeting with Carissa tomorrow, 6/6, for 8:30 AM before the ethics training.

Day 2 (6/6/17)

Day 3 (6/7/17)

Day 4 (6/8/17)

Day 5 (6/9/17)

Reflection: End of Week 2

Week 3 (6/12/17-6/16/17)

Day 1 (6/12/17)

Day 2 (6/13/17)

Day 3 (6/14/17)

Day 4 (6/15/17

Day 5 (6/16/17)

Reflection: End of Week 3

Week 4 (6/19/17-6/23/17)

Day 1 (6/19/17)

Day 2 (6/20/17)

Day 3 (6/21/17)

Day 4 (6/22/17)

Day 5 (6/23/17)

Reflection: End of Week 4

Week 5 (6/26/17-6/30/17)

Day 1 (6/26/17)

Day 2 (6/27/17)

Day 3 (6/28/17)

Day 4 (6/29/17)

Day 5 (6/30/17)

Reflection: End of Week 5

Week 6 (7/3/17-7/7/17)

Day 1 (7/3/17)

Day 2 (7/4/17)

Day 3 (7/5/17)

Day 4 (7/6/17)

Day 5 (7/7/17)

Reflection: End of Week 6

Week 7 (7/10/17-7/14/17)

Day 1 (7/10/17)

Day 2 (7/11/17)

Day 3 (7/12/17)

Day 4 (7/13/17)

Day 5 (7/14/17)

Reflection: End of Week 7

Week 8 (7/17/17-7/21/17)

Day 1 (7/17/17)

Day 2 (7/18/17)

Day 3 (7/19/17)

Day 4 (7/20/17)

Day 5 (7/21/17)

Reflection: End of Week 8

Week 9 (7/24/17-7/28/17)

Day 1 (7/24/17)

Day 2 (7/25/17)

Day 3 (7/26/17)

Day 4 (7/27/17)

Day 5 (7/28/17)

Reflection: End of Week 9

Week 10 (7/31/17-8/4/17)

Day 1 (7/31/17)

Day 2 (8/1/17)

Day 3 (8/2/17)

Day 4 (8/3/17)

Day 5 (8/4/17)

Reflection: End of Week 10