Sponsored by:
Program — 2023 schedule
Please come to Kemeny Hall 105
|
9:00 - 10:00 |
Continental breakfast and ice breaker game |
|
10:00 - 10:15 |
A welcome by the organizers, followed by a short biographical sketch of Sonia Kovalevsky |
|
10:15 - 11:00 |
Workshop: Mathematical Games Abstract: Have you ever wondered if math can make you better at playing games? In this session, we will study how to use math to improve your odds of winning a variety of games, from rolling dice to guessing which door on a game show hides the grand prize! Along the way we will learn how to mathematically determine foolproof winning strategies for games and encounter a few mathematical paradoxes as well. Session Leaders: Brian Mintz, Travis Russell, and Kasia Warburton |
|
11:15 - 12:00 |
Plenary Lecture: Mathematical Magic with a Deck of Cards Nadia Lafrenière, John Wesley Young Research Instructor, Dartmouth College Mathematics Department, with the help of Sofia Goncalves ’25 Abstract: Mathematicians and magicians have been inspiring each other for centuries. Math is especially powerful for designing card “magic” tricks that work because the performer knows more about probability than the audience does. I will present card tricks that you can do at home and reveal my secrets, turning you into “mathemagicians”! |
|
12:00 - 1:00 |
Buffet lunch
|
|
1:00 - 1:45 |
Workshop: Impossible Origami Abstract: Mathy ancient Greeks could do a lot with a ruler and compass: split an angle in half, construct a perfect pentagon, bake bread, cure the plague… . But even they couldn’t use them to split an angle exactly in thirds or construct a perfect 7-a-gon, and since then mathematicians have actually shown it’s impossible! We’ll look into a bit of this “impossibility math” and see how you can do these impossible things anyway using origami. Session Leaders: Matt Ellison, Lucy Knight, and Lily McBeath |
|
2:00 - 2:45 |
Workshop: Artistic Tilings Abstract: Tilings are collections of shapes that fit together nicely to cover a surface. Tilings are ubiquitous throughout nature, architecture, and art (most notably in the work of M.C. Escher). In this workshop, we’ll explore the mathematics of tilings of the Euclidean plane and discuss criteria to determine whether a single tile can tile the plane. Most importantly, participants will create their own Escher-esque tilings! Session Leaders: Beth Anne Castellano, Nadia Lafrenière, and Jay Chen |
|
2:45 |
Tea time and closing
|