Title:  100 Years of Sperner’s Lemma: Proofs, Generalizations, and Applications

Time:  friday,  12:15 pM - 2:00 PM

Abstract: Sperner’s lemma is a simple combinatorial result that is surprisingly powerful and useful---bringing together ideas in combinatorics, geometry, and topology while attracting interest from economists and game theorists. I’ll explain why, show some old and new proofs, and present some recent generalizations with diverse applications.

Bio: Francis Su is the Benediktsson-Karwa Professor of Mathematics at Harvey Mudd College, a former president of the Mathematical Association of America, and a Fellow of the American Mathematical Society. In 2013, he received the Haimo Award, a nationwide teaching prize for college math faculty, and in 2018, he won the Halmos-Ford writing award. His work has been profiled in Quanta Magazine, Wired, and the New York Times. His book Mathematics for Human Flourishing (2020), winner of the 2021 Euler Book Prize, has been translated into 9 languages. It offers an inclusive vision of what math is, who it’s for, and why anyone should learn it.