Speaker:Prof. Geoffrey Grimmett (Stats Lab)
Venue: Old Combination Room, Trinity College
Time: 06/03/2006 20:30, drinks from 20:15

Drop n points at random into a bounded subset of the plane, and find the area of the smallest triangle thus formed. This elementary problem involves the least arcane geometrical shape, but is related to a variety of questions of current mathematical interest including Poisson convergence, Kolmogorov complexity, and the Heilbronn triangle problem. It is linked also to a beautiful formula discovered by Morgan Crofton of Trinity College (Dublin) and published in the 9th edition of Encyclopedia Britannica in 1868.