AIP 321 Forensic Mathematics (NP)
This course studies examples of persuasive arguments as they occur in various settings including judicial and other legal proceedings. Most of the material concerns persuasion based on mathematical arguments. Examples of such proceedings include voting issues, racial and gender discrimination in various contexts, economic concentration or monopoly and DNA matching. The main mathematical tools are statistics and probability and some mathematical models of relevant universes. The course is self-contained with respect to these topics but some willingness to learn about them is necessary. We will simultaneously read and discuss a brief history of the laws of evidence. With respect to applications we will study the underlying topic (and question at hand) before we attempt to bring mathematical analysis to bear.