Speaker: Kenji Kozai, Lesley University
Monday, February 2nd
11:00 - 11:50 AM
Stratton 202
Title: Life in a hyperbolic world
Abstract: Euclid’s famous parallel postulate says that given a line in the
plane and a point not on the line, there is a unique line
parallel to the first line passing through the given point.
However, there are other geometries in which this postulate
is not true. Some are familiar, like the geometry of the
surface of a sphere, while others, like hyperbolic geometry,
are less familiar despite being the most “common” geometry
in many mathematical senses.
In this talk, we will investigate models of hyperbolic
geometry, including one that can be built by physically
assembling triangles, to explore its interesting properties and
to understand some of the surprising consequences of living
in a hyperbolic world. For example, any two points in an area
as large as the United States could be within 15 miles of each
other yet be practically impossible to travel between them.
Time permitting, we will also overview some of the
intentional and unintentional ways in which hyperbolic
geometry arises in real life