Curved-Space Billiards
Jeffrey Weeks our goMATH special guest gave a talk on Curved-Space Billiards on Monday, 21 March 2022.
Abstract
After a brief introduction to 2D spherical, Euclidean and hyperbolic geometry using fleece surfaces, volunteers will pull on a VR headset to try their hand at billiards in 3D spherical, Euclidean and hyperbolic spaces, with the rest of the audience following along on the lecture hall’s main screen. Even experienced geometers may find some surprising optical effects, which we’ll explain using the fleece surfaces. For everyone from first-year students on up. The Curved-Space Billiards game will be available for free play after the end of the talk.