Last week I attended JMM 2025. It was a busy, exciting couple of days that was filled with lots of math.

Table of Contents

Math

I went to a lot of talks - more than I probably should have. Some of them made sense, but many also went completely over my head. For the ones that were more memorable, I wrote down 3 things that I want to remember from them:

• 100 Years of Morse Theory
• Arithmetic Aspects of Enumerative Geometry
• Dynkin diagrams and higher Auslander algebras, Cluster Tilting Objects and Preprojective Algebras
• Fermions Revisited
• Identifying AI Generated Content Using Cryptography and Zero Knowledge Proof Systems
• Infinity Categories of Dimension Less Than Or Equal To 1
• Skein Modules and the Quantum Frobenius
• The Mathematics of Doodling
• The Ten Martini Problem

Although the talks were great, the highlight for me was definitely the poster session. Talks can be amazing, but if you get lost early on, it's basically impossible to recover. Posters are different: you can ask more questions and slow the speaker down to your own pace.

It was quite refreshing to see so many people pursuing the same goals as me. I saw a lot of people that I hadn't seen since the summer of 2022 - it's incredible to see how much everyone has grown since then. Since starting college, I've often felt bubbled away from the people around me. In high school, everyone around me seemed to follow the same formulas: get good grades in the same classes, do well in the same extracurriculars, and apply to the same schools. But college feels completely scattered. Some friends dropped out. Others are hustling to graduate in two years so they start working as soon as possible. Many of the sharpest people I know are ditching pure math for tech - machine learning, quant finance, big tech, and so on. Few people are still considering a PhD, like we used to talk about when we were younger. Honestly, I don't blame them.

Overall, JMM felt a lot like MCSP 22. Back then, I was on the younger side, not as accomplished as the people around me, and imposter syndrome hit hard. At JMM, I felt similarly - surrounded by people who were smarter, more experienced, and more accomplished. But that's not a bad thing. Being around people like that pushes me to grow. Each day at JMM felt like I was learning more than I did in my entire first semester of college.

Mathematically, I learned some thing about me:

• I need to learn more cryptography. Dan Boneh's talk sparked something in me I hadn't felt in a while. Back in high school, cryptography was one of my biggest passions. I watched all of the lectures from MIT's 6.875 course, completed the Berkeley MOOC, and attended SBC in both 2023 and 2024. But since starting college, my interest has faded. My college doesn't have anyone working on zk math, and the field has shifted from cozy experimental projects by college students to full-scale venture backed companies that yell at each other on twitter. But his talk reminded me why cryptography capitvated me in the first place. It's a visionary idea that shouldn't reasonably exist. Yet it does, and works magically.

• I need to learn more algebraic geometry. This has been on my mental to-do list for ages, but I've never truly committed to it. My favorite session from JMM was the Homological Interactions Between Commutative and Noncommutative Algebra. I need to get really good at algebraic geometry if I want to understand more of this.

Stuff I Did...

• Exhibits. Spent way too much time browsing books. No regrets.
• Jane Street Estimathon. This was really fun! My team was hovering between first and second place before we dropped to sixth in the final minute, but it was worth it for the conversations and the food.
• Undergrad Student Dinner. Chaotic and overcrowded, but the food was solid. For some reason, I felt like everyone knew everyone else already, except for me.
• MCSP Meetup. It was nice to catch up with old friends.
• Chihuly Garden and Glass Museum. Really beautiful. If you're ever in Seattle, go see it. The sculptures are massive and mesmerizing.
• Past Lives). I watched this on the flight back home, and it was a powerful film. It hit close to home for me, especially the feeling of leaving people behind that you wish you'd spent more time with, and then wondering why you didn't make more of an effort when you had the chance.

Photos

One evening, I decided to leave the conference early and take a walk by the water. It was a spontaneous choice, but I'm so glad I made it. The atmosphere was unexpectedly serene: quiet, peaceful, and exceptionally beautiful. There's something really wonderful about the way this city is designed. Near the waterfront, time slows down, and you can simply sit by the water, watch the sunset, and feel like you have nowhere else to be...