For more information about this meeting, contact Sergei Tabachnikov.
| Title: | Outer billiards, kites, and the modular group |
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| Seminar: | Department of Mathematics Colloquium |
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| Speaker: | Richard Schwartz, Brown University |
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| Abstract: |
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| Outer billiards is a basic dynamical system defined relative to a convex planar shape. Since its introduction in the 1950s, one of the central questions has been whether or not there exists a shape
for which there are unbounded orbits. I will give a visual demonstration of my recent result that outer
billiards has unbounded orbits when defined relative to every so-called irrational kite. It turns out that
there is a close connection between outer billiards on kites and the modular group. This connection leads to a very good understanding of the dynamics of the system, and also to some beautiful computer pictures. |
Room Reservation Information
| Room Number: | MB114 |
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| Date: | 10 / 02 / 2008 |
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| Time: | 04:00pm - 05:00pm |
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