Lectures on Tap - "The Mathematical Language of Billiards"

📍 Location: Exact address given in confirmation email

🧠 Lecture: "Bouncing Around: The Mathematical Language of Billiards"

🎤 Speaker: Jayadev Athreya

How many ways can a billiard ball bounce around a polygonal table? This seemingly simple question opens the door to surprisingly deep and creative mathematics. Mathematical billiards in polygons are very simple models of Newtonian mechanics, yet many fundamental questions about them remain unanswered.

Join us as Professor Jayadev Athreya reveals how the humble billiard table connects geometry, dynamical systems, and the broader creative processes of mathematics. You’ll see how patterns of motion become a rich mathematical language, and how abstract theory can emerge from familiar, everyday experiences.

Jayadev Athreya is Professor and Kim B. and Stephen E. Bepler Chair of Mathematics at Fordham University. Originally from Ames, Iowa, he studied at Iowa State University and completed his Ph.D. at the University of Chicago. He has held positions at Yale, Princeton, the University of Illinois, and the University of Washington, and visiting roles in the UK, France, and India. A mathematical artist as well, his work has been shown in galleries and math institutes in Seattle, Paris, and Marseille.

Get a drink, connect, and learn at Lectures on Tap! 🙌

Agenda

6:30 PM – Doors open: find a seat (open seating!), order food & drinks, and expect a bar line—arriving early is key.

6:55 PM – Host introduction

7:00 PM – Lecture begins

7:45 PM – Audience Q&A

8:00 PM – Have 1:1 time with the speaker, mingle with fellow guests, and order another round

8:30 PM – Wrap up.