8 oct 2014 -- 16:30
Aula Magna, DM, Pisa
Abstract.
This talk will review joint work with David Swinarski over the past year on the first question in the title. Most of the mathematics will be elementary and the talk will be accessible to students at all levels. My main goals are to illustrate how mathematical research projects evolve and to use our work to review strategies that are often useful in tackling them. Along the way, we'll learn about the game of craps itself and touch on ideas from probability, geometry, algebra, number theory and combinatorics. The talk will conclude by answering the second question in the title by stating some elementary but mysterious open problems.
As background for those unfamiliar with craps, the most popular dice game in the US, here are links to three classic movie scenes:
A Bronx Tale (set in the neighborhood of Fordham University in the 1960s) with Lillo Brancato rolling the dice for Chazz Palminteri:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_7poDO3M54w
Hard Eight with the late Phillip Seymour Hoffman throwing the dice:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sOPB9c4t0Ok
Diamonds are Forever with Sean Connery as James Bond (warning, totally unrealistic):
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=V31rpJXbse4