Andrew J. Hanson (School of Informatics and Computing, Indiana University Bloomington)
Many years ago, the computer graphics community discovered some amusing techniques for deforming spheres to create flexible models ofcomplicated solid objects. These so-called "superquadrics" were then widely used for shape modeling in graphics as well as shape recognition in machine vision. In the early 90's, I started looking at complexifying these shapes, noting their relation to the "Fermat Equations" familiar from Fermat's Last Theorem. The outcome was a family of graphics methods for interacting with the resulting complexified surfaces and a computer animated Siggraph film entitled "Visualizing Fermat's Last Theorem." A decade later, it was noticed that the Fermat Equation methods corresponded exactly to those needed to create representations of the Calabi-Yau spaces embodying the "hidden dimensions" of string theory. The resulting images were included in Brian Greene's 1998 best-seller "The Elegant Universe" and since then have appeared in literally hundreds of other scientific an artistic venues, including Scientific American and a 2003 NOVA television special on string theory. (NOTE: This talk will have lots of pretty pictures and animations, and the only math you need to know is the equation of a circle!)
SFI Host: Geoffrey B. West