- Start Date:
July 10, 2008
- Event Start Time:
12:00 PM
- Event End Time:
1:00 PM
- Organizers:
Christine Agnese
- Event Location:
DIMACS Seminar room
- Seminar Series:
REU Seminar
- Presenter(s):
Phil Matchett Wood - Rutgers University
- Abstract:
In the past 30 years, the Rubik's Cube has been one of the worlds best selling toys and most engaging puzzles, and this talk will aim to cover some of the mathematics that has been inspired by the Rubik's Cube. There are many questions one might ask, for example:
* How many different configurations are there for a Rubik's Cube?
* What is the hardest configuration to solve?
* How difficult are generalizations of the Rubik's Cube?
Using the idea of a mathematical group along with algorithms and optimized computing, the goal of this talk will be a hands-on demonstration of how the mathematics of the Rubik's Cube can be applied to something that everyone is interested in: having fun!
