- Thursday, October 6, 2022
- 3:00 PM–4:00 PM
- NH 276
Mike Bolt: The Ubiquitous Complex Exponential
On October, 9 Mathematics & Statistics Department Colloquium welcomes a new lecture by Calvin Professor Mike Bolt. Light refreshments will be served in the Reading Room at 3:00 pm, immediately followed by the lecture in NH 276.
Title: The Ubiquitous Complex Exponential
Abstract: A 2014 study supported by the Wellcome Trust London used surveys and functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) to determine that -- among mathematicians -- Euler's identity 1+eiπ = 0 is most consistently rated as beautiful and activates the same part of the emotional brain as the experience of beauty derived from other sources. Key to this equation is the complex exponential whose application is not just basic to mathematics, but which also appears pervasively in the physical world. In this talk, we introduce this function using ideas from Calc II, explore many of its appearances in our world, and demonstrate how it even arises in an artist's intuition through consideration of Escher's Print Gallery.
Location details
North Hall 276
