| Speaker: Alba Malaga Affiliation: Inria, Almanach team, Paris Time: 12 pm Wednesday, 9 May, 2018 Location: 303-257 |
| Two people who do not want to see each other find themselves in a square room where all walls are covered with mirrors. So, no matter what their position is, they can always see each other; moreover there is infinite number of directions where they can look and see each other. Could we invite other people and place the guests in such a way that they make it impossible for those two to see each other? This problem was first introduced for square rooms in the context of a mathematical olympiad. It can be modelled using dynamical systems. When we imagine each person as a point the problem translates into the blocking property of polygonal billiards. In this seminar I will introduce you to the history and recent developments around this mirror room problem and I will present an exhibit that can be used to explain this problem to the general public. This is joint work with Samuel Lelièvre (Orsay). |