Return to Colloquia & Seminar listing
Combinatorial Trigonometry (and a method to DIE for)
Special Events| Speaker: | Arthur T. Benjamin, Harvey Mudd College |
| Location: | 2112 MSB |
| Start time: | Wed, Jul 23 2008, 12:10PM |
Description
Many trigonometric identities, including the Pythagorean theorem, have
combinatorial proofs. Furthermore, some combinatorial problems have
trigonometric solutions. All of these problems can be reduced to
alternating sums, and are attacked by a technique we call
D.I.E. (Description, Involution, Exception). This technique offers new
insights to identities involving binomial coefficients, Fibonacci
numbers, derangements, zig-zag permutations, and Chebyshev
polynomials.
Professor Benjamin is also giving a "Mathemagics" presentation this evening 5-6pm in 1100 Social Science Humanities Lecture Hall for the general public (suitable for high school students). Please see
http://www.math.ucdavis.edu/~vazirani/mathfest/
for more details.
Professor Benjamin is also giving a "Mathemagics" presentation this evening 5-6pm in 1100 Social Science Humanities Lecture Hall for the general public (suitable for high school students). Please see
