Speaker: Michael Dougherty

Title: The Pudding is in the Proof: A Case for Combinatorial Solutions

Abstract: We are by now accustomed to seeing marvelous facts in combinatorics (and related subjects) for which the proofs are simple, yet unenlightening. For example, the identities associated with Pascal’s triangle are well-known, but the usual proofs don’t shed much light on how it’s all connected. Thankfully, there are often elegant proofs for these facts which showcase the geometry of the underlying mathematics and help us better understand what’s really going on. In this talk, we’ll discuss some pretty examples of these proofs and apply the techniques to a recent problem in combinatorics. No background in combinatorics is needed.