Robert Styer
Prepared Talks:
- Bouncing balls, Jenga blocks, and infinity
- If a ball bounces an infinite number of times, will it bounce an infinite amount of time? We use some elementary physics of a bouncing ball to lead to geometric series. Next, can you pile up Jenga blocks so the top one overhangs the bottom one? Some elementary physics leads to the harmonic series. Along the way we enjoy some paradoxes of calculating with infinite series.
- Why I became a mathematician
- My seventh grade math teacher introduced us to the abstract concepts of commutativity, associativity, and the like. The ability to reduce previously arbitrary manipulations to a small list of fundamental principles excited me. We will look at a hard problem, translate it to the geometric context of elliptic curves, then see how my seventh grade introduction to commutativity applies to elliptic curves. We conclude by briefly indicating why elliptic curves are useful in cryptography.
Contact Information:
- Institution: Villanova University
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