Speaker:Prof. Béla Bollobás (DPMMS):
Venue: MR2, Centre for Mathematical Sciences
*Note different time and venue*
Time: 20/01/2014 19:30

Whenever one thinks of problems that have occupied the attention of mathematicians for centuries, number theoretic problems spring to mind: Fermat’s Last Theorem, Goldbach’s Conjecture, and the Twin Primes Conjecture. But, as it happens, there are some problems of geometry which, in various incarnations, have been around for two millennia. In the talk I shall present a number of results about such problems, starting with results obtained in antiquity and the Middle Ages, continuing with theorems of Cauchy and Cayley, and ending with some recent results and unsolved problems. The talk will be accessible to freshmen, but will hold challenges for research students as well.