Graduate Student

Event Information Pigeonhole, Tic-Tac-Toe and More
18:10 on Thursday January 14, 2016
19:00 on Thursday January 14, 2016
BA6183, Bahen Center, 40 St. George St.
Yuan Yuan Zheng
http://www.math.toronto.edu/yyz22/index.html
University of Toronto

The Hales-Jewett theorem says that tic-tac-toe cannot end in a draw even if there is a huge number of players playing on a giant board, provided that the game is played in large-enough-dimension. This is a Ramsey-type theorem, showing that complete disorder is impossible. We start from the pigeonhole principle and taste various delicious Ramsey-type theorems, including van der Waerdens theorem, Ramseys theorem, the Hales-Jewett theorem, Hindmans theorem and Millikens theorem. We also look at the relations among them, but no technical details are discussed.

Pizza and pop provided; pub night to follow the talk.