Geometric Analysis and Topology Seminar

Outer billiards

Speaker: Richard Schwartz, Brown

Location: Warren Weaver Hall 202

Date: Wednesday, February 26, 2020, 11 a.m.

Synopsis:

Outer billiards is a geometrically inspired dynamical system that is akin to regular billiards except that it takes place on the outside of a convex planar shape. I'll explain the basics of the subject, then focus on my solution of the Moser-Neumann problem, which asks whether there exist unbounded orbits for outer billiards.  (Yes.) At the end, if there is time, I'll briefly discuss more recent work in which I build a bi-lipschitz combinatorial model for the orbits when the shape is a kite.  The talk will have lots of computer demos.