Posts Tagged 'Algorithms'

The Mathematics of Fair Play in Video Games

Published April 2, 2020 Irish Times Leave a Comment
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Video games generate worldwide annual sales of about $150 billion. With millions of people confined at home with time to spare, the current pandemic may benefit the industry. At the core of a video game is a computer program capable of simulating a range of phenomena in the real world or in a fantasy universe, of generating realistic imagery and of responding to the actions and reactions of the players. At every level, mathematics is crucial [TM184 or search for “thatsmaths” at irishtimes.com].

League-Of-Legends

League of Legends, from Riot Games.

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Having your Christmas Cake and Eating it

Published December 19, 2019 Irish Times Leave a Comment
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As Christmas approaches, the question of fair sharing comes into focus. Readers can rejoice that there has been a recent breakthrough in cake-cutting theory. Cake cutting may sound limited, but it is important for many practical problems. A cake is a metaphor for a parcel of land to be divided, broadcast frequencies to be allocated, divorce settlements, chores to be done by flatmates, border resolutions or any other valuable or scarce resource to be shared  [TM177 or search for “thatsmaths” at irishtimes.com].

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Airport Baggage Screening with X-Ray Tomography

Published November 21, 2019 Irish Times Leave a Comment
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When you check in your baggage for a flight, it must be screened before it is allowed on the plane. Baggage screening detects threats within luggage and personal belongings by x-ray analysis as they pass along a conveyor belt. Hold-baggage and passenger screening systems are capable of detecting contraband materials, narcotics, explosives and weapons [TM175 or search for “thatsmaths” at irishtimes.com].

Baggage-Xray

3D X-ray image of baggage [image from Rapiscan Systems ].

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Emergence of Complex Behaviour from Simple Roots

Published October 3, 2019 Irish Times Leave a Comment
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It is exhilarating to watch a large flock of birds swarming in ever-changing patterns. Swarming is an emergent behaviour, resulting from a set of simple rules followed by each individual animal, bird or fish, without any centralized control or leadership.

Flocking-Starlings-CyrilByrne

A murmuration of starlings at dusk near Ballywilliam, Co Wexford. Photograph: Cyril Byrne.

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ToplDice is Markovian

Published August 29, 2019 Occasional Leave a Comment
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Many problems in probability are solved by assuming independence of separate experiments. When we toss a coin, it is assumed that the outcome does not depend on the results of previous tosses. Similarly, each cast of a die is assumed to be independent of previous casts.

However, this assumption is frequently invalid. Draw a card from a shuffled deck and reveal it. Then place it on the bottom and draw another card. The odds have changed: if the first card was an ace, the chances that the second is also an ace have diminished.

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Algorithms: Recipes for Success

Published August 1, 2019 Irish Times Leave a Comment
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The impact of computing on society is ever-increasing. Web-based commerce continues to grow and artificial intelligence now pervades our lives. To make wise choices, we need to understand how computers operate and how we can deploy them most constructively. Listen to any computer scientist and soon you will hear the word “algorithm” [TM168 or search for “thatsmaths” at irishtimes.com].

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Cumbersome Calculations in Ancient Rome

Published June 27, 2019 Occasional 1 Comment
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Arithmetica-Woodcut“Typus Arithmeticae” is a woodcut from the book Margarita Philosophica by Gregor Reisch of Freiburg, published in 1503. In the centre of the figure stands Arithmetica, the muse of mathematics. She is watching a competition between the Roman mathematician Boethius and the great Pythagoras. Boethius is crunching out a calculation using Hindu-Arabic numerals, while Pythagoras uses a counting board or abacus (tabula) and – presumably – a less convenient number system. Arithmetica is looking with favour towards Boethius. He smiles smugly while Pythagoras is looking decidedly glum.

The figure aims to show the superiority of the Hindu-Arabic number system over the older Greek and Roman number systems. Of course, it is completely anachronistic: Pythagoras flourished around 500 BC and Boethius around AD 500, while the Hindu-Arabic numbers did not arrive in Europe until after AD 1200.

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