Marden Lecture Series Presents: Juggling Counts

Presented by Prof. Steve Butler, Morrill, Professor of Mathematics at Iowa State University

Mathematics is a language which can help us describe and explore patterns. One source of patterns that mathematicians have been exploring comes from juggling (the tossing of objects, usually balls or clubs). We will look at multiple ways to describe juggling patterns that allow us to find new juggling patterns, and to count how many possible patterns exist. We can compare answers to various problems to give a combinatorial proof of Worpitzky’s identity. We will also look at a few juggling-based problems that mathematics has not yet succeeded in answering.

This event is a part of the Marden Lecture Series, each Spring the Department of Mathematical Sciences invites a distinguished mathematician to lecture to a general audience. The Marden Lecture honors Morris Marden (1905 – 1991), who founded our graduate program and made our department a research department. The Marden lecture is funded through the Miriam and Morris Marden Fund and is co-sponsored by the Department of Mathematical Sciences.