Tuesday, November 28 at 7:00pm
Nancy Schrom Dye Lecture Hall, Science Center
119 Woodland Street, Oberlin, OH 44074
Aperiodic Monotiles: New Shapes Just Dropped
A longstanding unsolved problem in geometry asks whether it is possible for a single shape to be aperiodic: to tile the plane without ever permitting translational symmetries. We recently proved that a shape called the “hat” solves this problem, making it the first known aperiodic monotile. In this talk I will introduce some background concepts from tiling theory and summarize the history of the search for aperiodic shapes. I will then relate the story of our discovery of the hat and the proof of its aperiodicity. Along the way I will also talk about two other closely related shapes, the “turtle” and the “spectre”, which allow us to derive additional results about aperiodic tilings.
Photo of Craig Kaplan
Madison Stamco
440-775-8380