Just a friendly reminder that the Junior Colloquium is today at 3:35,
preceded by the Open House for the Math Club in the Math Undergraduate
Reading Room, Ayres 229 starting at 2:30. All faculty and students
interested in math are invited to attend the Math Club open house. Note
that the pizza will also be served in Ayres 229 today, not in 401 as is
typical.

SPEAKER:  Professor Andrew Miller of Beaumont University
TITLE: The Trouble with Tribbles (for Hairdressers)
ABSTRACT: In a classic episode of the original Star Trek TV series, the
Enterprise is overrun by adorable, spherical, fur-covered creatures called
tribbles. Suppose you are a Federation stylist and are tasked with taming
a tribble's tresses. Could you comb all of its fur flat? A cylindrical or
donut-shaped tribble would provide no trouble (can you imagine how it
could be done?), but spherical tribbles present more of a challenge. We
will tackle the mathematical version of this question, encountering such
ideas as vector fields, singularities, and the Euler characteristic. The
answer to the tribble challenge provides an example of the many
fascinating interactions between global and local behavior on surfaces.



Professor, Director of UT Math Honors
Math Department
Ayres Hall 224C
University of Tennessee
Knoxville, TN 37996-0612

Phone: 865-974-4319
http://web.utk.edu/~cplaut