Colloquium Monday

Next Monday, April 7, we have two former Truman students returning to talk about their graduate work. Both are currently at University of Nebraska-Lincoln.  The colloquium will take place on at 3:30 in VH1224. Each talk will be about 25 minutes.

Charles Tomlinson, Third-year graduate student, University of Nebraska-Lincoln

Title: The Knights and Knaves logic puzzle.

Abstract:
A classic logic puzzle is to consider an island on which each person is either a knave, and always lies, or is a knight, and always tells the truth. You, as a visitor to this island, must discover the identity of a knight, by asking the locals a series of simple questions.  I will present a solution to this problem as well as a host of extensions which examine what happens if the island becomes more diverse.  I will introduce and develop a connection to graph theory that allows us to build an algorithm for solving these puzzles.
Andrew Windle, Second-year graduate student, University of Nebraska-Lincoln

Title: Dueling and Mathematics

Abstract:  In this talk, we will analyze the mathematical modelling of a problem known as the duel. This problem will be presented in terms of an economic application, but is known as the duel as it also effectively models gun duels as seen in classic western films. Through game theoretic methods, we will determine what optimal play looks like for the duel, as well as discuss the difficulties of modelling duels in which neither player is aware of when the other acts.​