These talks will be self-contained presentations of mathematical concepts
and theorems. They are intended to be accessible to all mathematics
students. Coffee, tea and drinks will be provided.
1 pm, Tuesday 1 August 2000
Science Lecture Theatre S14
Regular figures in 3 and 4 dimensions
Assoc. Prof. John Stillwell
Dept. of Mathematics & Statistics
Monash University
The 3-dimensional space in which we live is "exotic" in the sense that it contains two very special regular solids, the dodecahedron and the icosahedron. These figures are remarkable because they have no analogue in higher dimensions - except in dimension 4, where there are three exceptional regular figures.
The talk will explain the connections between these exceptional objects,
and will be illustrated with models and slides.