{
	"event_id": "1099830",
	"eventinstance_id": "4088576",
	"calendar": {
		"id": 1,
		"title": "Events at UCF",
		"slug": "events-at-ucf",
		"url": "https://events.ucf.edu/calendar/1/events-at-ucf/"
	},
	"id": "4088576",
	"title": "Colloquium by Professor Steven J. Miller, Williams College",
	"subtitle": null,
	"description": "\u003Cp\u003EThe\u003Cspan\u003E\u0026nbsp\u003B\u003C/span\u003E\u003Ca href\u003D\u0022https://sciences.ucf.edu/math/colloquium/\u0022 target\u003D\u0022_blank\u0022\u003EMathematics Colloquium Series\u003C/a\u003E\u0026nbsp\u003Boffers a diverse platform for research scholars, faculty, students, and industry experts to share and exchange ideas, fostering discussion and networking across mathematics, statistics, and data science.\u003C/p\u003E\u000A\u003Cp\u003E\u003Ca href\u003D\u0022https://web.williams.edu/Mathematics/sjmiller/public_html/\u0022 target\u003D\u0022_blank\u0022\u003ESteven J. Miller\u003C/a\u003E from Williams College will speak at this week\u0027s colloquium on \u003Cstrong\u003EBenford\u0027s Law: Why the IRS might care about the 3x+1 problem and zeta(s)\u003C/strong\u003E.\u003C/p\u003E\u000A\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003EAbstract:\u003Cspan\u003E \u003C/span\u003E\u003C/strong\u003EMany systems exhibit a digit bias. For example, the first digit base 10 of the Fibonacci numbers or of 2^n equals 1 about 30% of the time\u003B the IRS uses this digit bias to detect fraudulent corporate tax returns. This phenomenon, known as Benford\u0027s Law, was first noticed by observing which pages of log tables were most worn from age (it\u0027s a good thing there were no calculators 100 years ago). We\u0027ll discuss the general theory and applications, talk about some fun examples (ranging from the 3x+1 problem to the Riemann zeta function) and, if time permits, discuss some current open problems suitable for undergraduate research projects.\u003C/p\u003E\u000A\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003ESpeaker Bio:\u003Cspan\u003E \u003C/span\u003E\u003C/strong\u003EGraduated with a bachelor\u0027s in math and physics from Yale University and a doctorate in math from Princeton University, Miller has supervised over 600 students and authored more than 200 papers in accounting, computer science, economics, geophysics, marketing, mathematics, operations research, physics, sabermetrics and statistics. He\u0027s the associate director of the Williams SMALL REU, a founding member of the Polymath Jr Summer Research Program (and always looking for new collaborators) and the president of the Fibonacci Association. \u003Cspan\u003EHe loves multitasking \u0026mdash\u003B especially with his family, who\u0026rsquo\u003Bve co\u002Dauthored several papers with him (and even tackled some interesting bridge problems). He can also teach people how to solve a Rubik\u0027s Cube poorly in under an hour.\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E",
	"location": "MSB 318: Mathematical Sciences Building, Room 318",
	"location_url": "https://www.ucf.edu/location/mathematical\u002Dsciences\u002Dbuilding/",
	"virtual_url": null,
	"registration_link": null,
	"registration_info": null,
	"starts": "Fri, 01 May 2026 10:30:00 -0400",
	"ends": "Fri, 01 May 2026 11:30:00 -0400",
	"ongoing": "False",
	"category": "Speaker/Lecture/Seminar",
	"tags": ["UCF Statistics","UCF Mathematics","Mathematics Colloquium"],
	"contact_name": "Wissam Ghantous",
	"contact_phone": null,
	"contact_email": "wissam.ghantous@ucf.edu",
	"url": "https://events.ucf.edu/event/4088576/colloquium-by-professor-steven-j-miller-williams-college/"
}