This week, on Friday Oct. 15th at 4pm in room 245 of Altgeld Hall, we'll be joined by Ada Stelzer! Ada is a first-year PhD student here in the Math department with interests among algebra, category theory, and the foundations of mathematics. And on Friday she'll be here to talk about a solution to some of the problems arising from commonly taught techniques to manipulate vectors:
Fixing the Cross Product: An Introduction to Geometric Algebra
Although vectors are a fundamental object of study in mathematics and physics, it is surprisingly difficult to find a good way to multiply them. The dot and cross products commonly taught in schools work for many computational purposes, but they lack several key properties we might desire or expect from a vector product. Fortunately, there's a solution to these problems! In this talk we will explore geometric algebra, which draws numerous algebraic models of space together into a unified framework, elegantly providing vast generalizations of vector algebra and vector calculus while simultaneously offering deeper insight into the geometry of vectors, complex numbers, and more. Minimal background will be assumed beyond some prior exposure to vectors.
Of course, there will be free pizza to-go courtesy of the IGL!
