Galéra, room 127 at 10:30.
Dr. Dennis Shasha is a professor of Mathematical Sciences in the Department of Computer Science at NYU. Along with research and teaching in biological computing, pattern recognition, database tuning , cryptographic file systems, and the like, Dennis is well-known for his mathematical puzzle column for Dr. Dobbs whose readers are very sharp and his Puzzling Adventures Column for the Scientific American. His puzzle writing has given birth to fictional books about a mathematical detective named Dr. Ecco. Dr. Shasha has also co-authored numerous highly technical books. Dennis speaks often at conferences and is a tireless self-promoter in the world of “mensa-like” puzzles.
more details at www.cs.nyu.edu/shasha
Title: Upstart Puzzles
Abstract: The writer of puzzles often invents puzzles to illustrate a principle. The puzzles, however, sometimes have other ideas. They speak up and say that they would be so much prettier as slight variants of their original selves.
The dilemma is that the puzzle inventor sometimes can’t solve those variants. Sometimes he finds out that his colleagues can’t solve them either, because there is no existing theory for solving them. At that point, these sassy variants deserve to be called upstarts.
We discuss a few upstarts inspired originally from the Falklands/Malvinas Wars, zero-knowledge proofs, and hikers in Colorado, and city planning. They have given a good deal of trouble to a certain mathematical detective whom I know well.
