Tom Blackford, a retired professor from Western Illinois University, will visit campus to talk about tools in number theory and mathematical fiction.
In this talk we will see how a special class of numbers that I affectionately call the Squaters (solutions to quadratic equations of discriminant 32) can be used to solve generalizations of the following story problem: if the N lockers in a locker room are numbered consecutively (1, 2, 3...N), find a locker such that the sum of the locker numbers before it is equal to the sum of the locker numbers that come after it. Along the way we will look at classical tools in number theory, including triangular numbers, continued fractions, modular arithmetic and quadratic reciprocity. We will also see how this story problem can be made into an actual story, contributing to the growing genre of mathematical fiction.
Tom Blackford graduated from the College of Wooster in 1991, where he was a math major and English minor. He earned a Ph.D. in mathematics at The Ohio State University in 1999. He was a professor at Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute and then at Western Illinois University until he retired last year. His areas of research include algebraic coding theory, number theory and mathematical fiction. He has since returned to his hometown of Cleveland to care for his family and do mathematical and creative writing, and he is enjoying a happy retirement except when watching Browns games.
Join us on Monday, February 9, at 3:10 p.m. in Hayes 109 to hear this exciting presentation from Blackford. We hope to see you there!