Splash Biography

Which way should you shoot in a penalty kick? How should ice cream vendors position themselves on beaches? What is the best strategy in rock, paper scissors? Game Theory is the study of strategic decision making. Mathematical models are utilized to represent rational individuals and attempts to determine the the best possible decisions given certain outcomes and constraints. Game Theory attempts to answer the questions listed before and some more serious ones, such as how companies like Coke and Pepsi should compete. It even goes so far to answer if these companies can collude without ever speaking. This course will present these models in the most basic form to illustrate how we can take certain "games" and attempt to determine a best possible choice. The games presented will be competitive, and will reward the cunning winners with delicious prizes. Topics to be included are normal vs extensive form, single vs. iterated play, the prisoners dilemma, and the pirate game. Come learn how we attempt to describe the choices of life and beat your friends in this competitive class.

Can a left handed person walk around the planet and come back right handed? Well, not on this one. But on another surface, this is quite possible. You can also walk around a knotted paths with out intersections or bridges, see yourself from behind without the help of mirrors, or be synonymously on the interior and exterior of the planet. In this class we will study a number of surfaces in three space, including the projective plane, the klein bottle, and multi-genus oriented an non-oriented surfaces.