am a research mathematician. My field is knots, or curves in 3-dimensional space. (Hence all the pictures.) A technical term for what I do is "geometric topology". One of the things I showed in my doctoral dissertation of 1997 (University of Illinois at Chicago) is that, in layman's terms, a (blue) rubber band cannot be made to intersect a sphere in the configuration, called a "square knot", shown below on the left, except by cutting the rubber band and later regluing it. (The sphere is a "forbidden zone"; the rubber band is not allowed to enter the sphere except in the configuration shown.)
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I have learned a proof of this result that uses "algebraic topology"; a very beautiful theory of math pioneered by the French mathematician Henri Poincaré (1854 - 1912).
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On a very different note, I also enjoy reciting classical poetry, eg. that of John Keats (1795 - 1821). And I frequently ride my bike ;-).
[email protected]
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On a very different note, I also enjoy reciting classical poetry, eg. that of John Keats (1795 - 1821). And I frequently ride my bike ;-).
[email protected]