Shuffling Math – Feb 21

Upon opening a new deck of cards, have you ever attempted a so-called perfect shuffle? A perfect shuffle splits a deck into two equal stacks, and then perfectly interlaces the cards from the two stacks. (Eight successive perfect shuffles puts the cards back into their original, fresh-out-of-the-pack order!) Only experienced card handlers can reliably perform even a single perfect shuffle, and yet the mathematics behind perfect shuffles has a rich history, including everything from mathematical card tricks to sophisticated research.

Our speaker is Dr. Cornelia Van Cott, Professor of Mathematics at the University of San Francisco. As a geometic toplogist, she studies knots, surfaces, and the interplay between 3- and 4-dimensional objects.


Dr. Cornelia Van Cott

WHAT: The Mathematics of Card Shuffling
WHO: Dr. Cornelia Van Cott, Professor of Mathematics, University of San Francisco
WHERE: HopMonk Tavern, 224 Vintage Way, Novato, CA 94945 [https://www.hopmonk.com/novato]
WHEN: 2023-02-21 — 7pm, Tue, February 21st (1.5 hour)
HOW:

For full enjoyment, please bring a deck of cards. Also, since this event is COVID-cautious, consider wearing a mask; the warm feeling of Wondernaut(!) camaraderie radiates through masks and across wide seat-spacing. Finally, kindly consider donating to nonprofit Wonderfest in the Eventbrite space, below. (This event is FREE; ignore any mention of "tickets" or "sales.")