Penrose, Escher, Blocks: Fun with Height Functions by Professor Daniel Condon, Williams College

Penrose, Escher, Blocks: Fun with Height Functions by Professor Daniel Condon, Williams College, Friday September 29, 1:00 – 1:50pm, North Science Building 015, Wachenheim

Abstract: We discuss new research in lozenge tilings, and focusing on the use of height functions to study the structure of lozenge tilings of finite regions with holes. We investigate such questions as: What does it mean to build a Penrose triangle with blocks? How complicated can that problem be? What can optical illusions teach us about tilings? This talk is intended to be accessible to undergraduates.