Research Seminars @ Illinois

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Tailored for undergraduate researchers, this calendar is a curated list of research seminars at the University of Illinois. Explore the diverse world of research and expand your knowledge through engaging sessions designed to inspire and enlighten.

To have your events added or removed from this calendar, please contact OUR at ugresearch@illinois.edu

Colloquium

Event Type
Seminar/Symposium
Sponsor
Jeremy Tyson
Location
165 Noyes; reception in 300 Harker at 3pm
Date
Oct 16, 2025   4:00 pm  
Speaker
Ruchard Montgomery, UC Santa Cruz
Views
19
Originating Calendar
General Events - Department of Mathematics

Title Gauge Theory: from Falling Cats back to the Three-body Problem

Abstract: My career has been a journey backward in time, from gauge theory to Newton's classical N-body problem from 1667, with a  layover thinking about the falling cat puzzle as reposed by Shapere and Wilczek. I sketch the journey. Along the way I plan to present and sketch proofs of two theorems.
Theorem 1. The optimal re-orientation strategy of a cat, dropped with zero angular momentum, is identical to a trajectory of a ``classical SO(3)-quark'' under the influence of a gauge theory.
Theorem 2. With a single exception, regardless of the masses, all negative energy zero angular momentum solutions to the three-body problem oscillate about collinearity.

Time permitting, I will say something about the ``geodesics that do not satisfy the geodesic equations''.

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