Complex Geometry Seminar

    Speaker Gil Bor CIMAT Place a point light source inside a smooth convex billiard table (or mirror). The n-th caustic by reflection is the envelope of light rays after n reflections. Theorem: each of these caustics, for a generic point light source, has at least 4 cusps. Conjecture: there are exactly 4 cusps …

    Speaker Gil Bor CIMAT At first sight, the pair of front and back wheel tracks left by a passing bike on a sandy or muddy terrain seems like a random pair of curves. This is not the case. For example, one can usually distinguish between the front and back wheel tracks, and even …