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Seminar Details

Cutting a Pancake Using an Exotic Knife

  • Start Date: September 11, 2025
  • Event Start Time: 5:00 PM
  • Event End Time: 6:00 PM
  • Seminar Series: Experimental Math Seminar
  • Presenter(s): Neil Sloane - OEIS Foundation
  • Event Location: Online Event
  • Event Additional Info: <p>Presented Via&nbsp;Zoom:&nbsp;<a href="https://rutgers.zoom.us/j/95103383827">https://rutgers.zoom.us/j/95103383827</a></p> <p>Password: 6564120420</p> <p>For further information see:&nbsp;<a href="https://sites.math.rutgers.edu/~zeilberg/expmath/">https://sites.math.rutgers.edu/~zeilberg/expmath/</a></p>
  • Presentation Type: Stand Alone Presentation
  • Abstract:

    In the first chapter of their classic book "Concrete Mathematics", Graham, Knuth, and Potashnik consider the maximum number of pieces that can be obtained from a pancake by making n cuts with a knife-blade that is straight, or bent into a V, or bent twice into a Z. We extend this work by considering knives, or "cookie-cutters", of even more exotic shapes, including a k-armed V, a chain of k connected line segments, or are shaped like one of the upper-case letters A, E, L, M, T, W, X, Y, or the less-familiar Wu. In most cases we are able to give an explicit formula for the maximum number of pieces. This talk is based on joint work with David O. H. Cutler.