These talks will be self-contained presentations of mathematical concepts and theorems. They are intended to be accessible to all mathematics students.
Tuesday 5th April, 2005
3:00 pm, Lecture Theatre 345
The Shape of Space
Associate Professor John Stillwell
Mathematics knows many different spaces, but which is the space we live
in? Is it finite or infinite? And if it is finite, how might we tell?
This talk is an introduction to the possible forms of 3-dimensional
space and what they look like from the inside. In particular, we will
look at 3-dimensional spaces analogous to the 2-dimensional surfaces of
the sphere, cylinder and torus, and some other, weirder, possibilities.
Those who have seen the book "The Shape of Space" by Jeff Weeks will
notice some overlap with this talk, but not too much.