Recreational Mathematics Colloquium V

Re​c​reational​ ​Mathematics ​ (RM). Today it is clear for most mathematicians and educators that the enjoyment RM provides is an asset in the process of bringing mathematics to all.

The historians among us might take the opportunity to remind us that RM has been also, for millennia, a source of inspiration for more prosaic scientific activities.

RMC-V (G4G- Europe) will be yet another high level meeting where some mathematical pearls will be shared and appreciated. It will be relevant in many ways (scientific, educational,…) and entertaining. What else should we ask for?

As MAA’s president put it recently “Mathematics makes the mind its playground”, so let’s play! ​

Ludus Association, with the kind support of ​M​UHNAC, CMAFCIO ​(project UID/MAT/04561/2013)​,​ CIUHCT, SPM, CEMAPRE, ULisboa, and FCT is proud to organize the fifth colloquium in the series, the second integrated in the Gathering for Gardner movement.​

W​e hope we will all have the best of times in this colloquium!

Scientific Committee

    Organizing Committee

    Saturday, 28th January

    8:30 – Registration

    9:00 – Opening Session

    9:30 – Robin Wilson, Open University, UK
    _           Lewis Carroll’s “Pillow Problems”

    10:00 – Carlos Pereira dos Santos, CEAFEL
    _            A mysterious mathematical painting

    10:30 – Carlota Simões, University of Coimbra
    _            From Gregorian chant to Star Wars: symmetries and mathematical structures in music

    11:00 – Coffee-break

    11:30 – Thane Plambeck, Counterwave

    _            Faking Lisbon street tiles

    12:00 – Eric Duchéne & Aline Parreau, Lyon 1 University
    _            «Hunting the beast»: an example of activity in the
    _              House of Mathematics and Computer Science 

    12:30 – Adam Atkinson
    _            The Samaritani formula

    13:00 – Break for lunch

    14:30 – António Araújo, UAb
    _            Optical Games: Anamorphosis and the Curious Perspectives

    15:00 – Pedro Freitas, FCUL, University of Lisbon
    _            The golden angle and how to construct it

    15:30 – Alda Carvalho, ISEL & CEMAPRE

    _            The geometer dog

    15:55 – Alfii
    _            Introducing a new game

    16:00 – Coffee-break

    16:30 – Colin Wright, Solipsys Ltd

    _            Unexpected connections from the Doodle Theorem

    17:00 – Andreia Hall, Aveiro University
    _            Symmetry and anti-symmetry in rosettes of Truchet tiles

    17:30 – Silvia Heubach, California State University
    _            Keeping your distance is hard

    18:00 – Francisco Picado, Ludus
    _            Shuffling a polygon

    18:30 – Welcome cocktail

    Sunday, 29th January

    9:30 – David Singmaster, London South Bank University
    _          The problems of Abbot Albert (C1240)

    10:00 – Robert Vallin, Lamar University & Aaron M. Montgomery, Baldwin Wallace University

    _             Penney’s game from multiple perspectives

    10:30 – Pedro Palhares, University of Minho
    _            Claude-Gaspar Bachet’s book of problems

    11:00 – Coffee-break

    11:30 – Paulo Gil, EBS de Pinheiro
    _             Mathematical tourism

    12:00 – Tiago Hirth, Ludus
    _            Topomagic

    12:20 – Adrien Lochon

    _          Anagrams

    12:30 – Francisco Mousinho, ESTAL
    _             Dadaism – A construction of an act

    13:00 –  Break for lunch

    14:30 – Rogério Martins, FCT
    _            The (not so simple!) chain fountain

    15:00 – José Paulo Viana, APM
    _            How to have dinner with everybody

    15:30 – Jorge Nuno Silva, University of Lisbon
    _           Mathematical games throughout the ages

    16:00 – Coffee-break

    16:30 –  Public session: The Mathemagical Cabaret

    _            Circo Matemático

    _            Colin Wright

    _            Leandro Morgado

    19:00 – Conference dinner

    Monday, 30th January

    9:30 – Jorge Buescu, FCUL, University of Lisbon
    _           From six-pointed stars to four-colored maps and back

    10:00 – Margarida Telo da Gama, FCUL, University of Lisbon
    _            Topological phase transitions: Nobel Prize material

    10:30 – Henrique Leitão, CIUHCT-UL
    _            The power of mathematics in the 16th century: nothing new under the Sun?

    11:00 – Coffee-break

    11:30 – Lília Marcelino, Lusófona University
    _            Intervention in early numerical competencies: ludic activities and games

    12:00 – Miguel Gonçalves, Ludus
    _            I’m not sleeping

    12:30 – Peter Lynch, UCD Dublin
    _            The fractal structure of the Power Tower

    13:00 – Break for lunch

    14:30 – Carlos Florentino, DM-FCUL & CAMGSD
    _            The two forest game and the four colour theorem

    15:00 – Tereza Bártlová, Charles University
    _             History of recreational mathematics

    15:30 – Joaquim Eurico Nogueira, FCT-UNL
    _            Inheritance problems

    16:00 – Coffee-break (with optional food tasting)

    16:30 – Svenja Huntermann, Dalhousie University
    _            Nova Scotia Math Circles

    17:00 – Melissa Huggan, Dalhousie University
    _            Nova Scotia Math Circles (2)

    17:30 – Urban Larsson, Technion
    _            Endgames in bidding chess

    18:00 – Leandro Morgado
    _            Framing and context in the mistery arts

    Tuesday, 31st January

    9:30 – José Carlos Santos, University of Porto

    _            Algebra before Algebra: The solution of algebraic problems before
    _            the introduction of algebraic notation

    10:00 – Jaime Carvalho e Silva, University of Coimbra

    _           Recreational cryptography

    10:30 – Ricardo Cunha Teixeira, University of Azores
    _            Step by step math in primary school

    11:00 – Coffee-break

    12:00 – Adam Atkinson
    _            Heavy boots and other stories

    12:30 – Mariana Almeida Rodrigues & Beatriz Xavier, IST
    _            NMATH-IST

    13:00 – Break for lunch

    14:30 – Teresa Maria Sousa, Escola Naval
    _            The 4 colour theorem

    15:00 – Filipe Papança, Military Academy
    _           The origins of mathematics – The influence of mathematics in poetry
    _            and poetry in mathematics

    15:30 Noémia Simões, ISEL

    _            Dignity games: playing, learning and promoting human rights

    17:00 – Aviezri Fraenkel, Colin Wright, David Singmaster
    _            Richard Nowakowski, Robin Wilson, Thane Plambeck
    _            Our dearest problems, Auditório Caleidoscópio, Campo Grande

    18:30 – Closing, Presence of Professor António Feijó, Vice-Rector of the University of Lisbon

    _            Auditório Caleidoscópio, Campo Grande

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    Related Publications

    RECREATIONAL MATHEMATICS COLLOQUIUM V: Proceedings of the Recreational Mathematics Colloquium V
    Buy Publication

    Special Session: Our dearest problems

    Our Dearest Problems Presentations

    Aviezri Fraenkel: Splitting integers by sequences

    Collin Wright: One of my favorite puzzles

    David Singmaster: The Battersea power station puzzle

    Richard Nowakowski: Art in Combinatorial Game Theory

    Robin Wilson: Hunting Snarks

    Thane Plambeck: Fault-free tilings of rectangles by dominos

    Organizing Institutions