Maths HL IA Suggestions?

[tim9800]

Hi all. Recently, we were told to think of IA topics and write out a proposal for our IA. I am largely disinterested and unmotivated in most things maths, and as such I am struggling to get started. I've tried to convince myself that I'm interested in topics for exploration, but after a day they become boring and I move on to some other topic. A list of topics I've browsed through and found uninteresting/forgot about the next day:

• Fractals - Dragon curve

• Divergent series - Cesaro and Abel summation

• Lebesgue integration

• Computing: binary trees, algorithmic efficiency

Topics I sort of liked but were too simple:

• Zipf's Law

• Moore's Law

• Measuring happiness - marginal utility

Stuff that's still hanging around in my mind:

• Bayesian theorem

I am currently looking at PageRank (the system that google uses to rank pages in order of their relevance to the search terms) and perhaps its relation to the Markov decision process? However, I have absolutely no background in Python, Java or any coding language, which has definitely started to demotivate me when considering computing based explorations. Any suggestions/people who have conducted similar explorations? My IA proposal is due this week-ish.

 

EDIT: Thanks to kw0573 for some preliminary info as well - has assuaged my fears slightly  

Quote

For these topics outside of syllabus, it's more important to demonstrate near complete understanding of basic stuff rather than superficial understanding of the whole thing, with the exception that if looking at multiple perspectives lightly can demonstrate how different topics of math are interconnected then it would be ok. 

So if you want to proceed with any of these topics, you should do preliminary researches and prove to your teacher that you can indeed understand and engage with these topics. IB sets the bar for difficulty only up to syllabus level, so you don't have to go much/anywhere beyond. Especially since your teacher thinks RSA/elliptical curve crytography may be too advanced, you should be fine. But the important thing to note is that some of these out-of-syllabus do terrible because students don't understand much and end up repeating what others have said without making any attempt making the knowledge their own. As long as you remember that the goal is to interact with any mathematics at least at the level of study (HL) without a huge emphasis on how "difficult" it may appear. 

 

Edited November 19, 2016 by tim9800

[tim9800]

21 hours ago, tim9800 said:

Stuff that's still hanging around in my mind:

• Bayesian theorem

I am currently looking at PageRank (the system that google uses to rank pages in order of their relevance to the search terms) and perhaps its relation to the Markov decision process? However, I have absolutely no background in Python, Java or any coding language, which has definitely started to demotivate me when considering computing based explorations. Any suggestions/people who have conducted similar explorations? My IA proposal is due this week-ish.

 

Ok so I bounced this back to my maths teacher and apparently they are lacking in mathematical content. As a result, I've resorted to more 'beefier' topics:

• Brachistochrone Curves
• Comparing different methods of calculating the orbit of a satellite

My maths teacher also said something about these topics, and that was that she is still uncertain about them until I tell her what I am planning to apply them to. I am approaching my last legs here, so I am willing to hear all sorts of crazy suggestions on practical applications, because the crazier the better right?! *hyperventilating*

Thanks in advance

Edited November 20, 2016 by tim9800