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Monday, February 21, 7:00 - Math Energy Meeting
Speaker: Gail Hildebrand
Title: Math Activities and Games
Using Cards and Dice
University Ballroom
Wednesday, February 23, 10:00 - Seminar in Mathematics
No Seminar Scheduled
OM 303A
Wednesday, February 23, 12:00 - MEG Meeting
OM 306
Wednesday, February 23, 4:00 - Physics Colloquium
Speaker: Gregory Galperin
Title: ``A Simple Physical Instrument for
Finding all the Digits of the Number `pi'"
215 Physical Science Building
Refreshments at 3:45
ABSTRACT. Many people think that the number ‘pi’ equals 3.14. This is not
true -- ‘pi’ is an irrational and even a transcendental number that
contains infinitely many decimal digits! There are many computational
approaches for finding the decimal digits of ‘pi’, and now about 55 billion
of them are known. The speaker will suggest a very unexpected method to
count AS MANY DIGITS OF ‘pi’ as you want! The method has a relationship to
physics. The "instrument" that allows one to find all these digits is very
simple: just two billiard balls on the straight line and one massive
obstacle (a wall of infinite mass). The speaker will show that the
billiard way he suggests is the most precise (THEORETICAL) method for
finding the digits of ‘pi’. The notions of configuration space and phase
space will be considered. If time allows, the speaker will touch on the
last results on billiard dynamical systems in polygons. The talk is
intended for a wide audience; students are especially encouraged to attend
the talk. No preliminary knowledge is required.
The 1999-2000 Physics Colloquium series is sponsored by the Physics
Department and features talks about current topics in physics and topics of
special interest to students and faculty. For further information about
this series, please contact Don Pakey, 581-3420. The lecture is free and
open to the public.
Friday, February 25, 4:00 - Colloquium
No Colloquium Scheduled
due to ScienceFest
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