Contact Info
Pure MathematicsUniversity of Waterloo
200 University Avenue West
Waterloo, Ontario, Canada
N2L 3G1
Departmental office: MC 5304
Phone: 519 888 4567 x43484
Fax: 519 725 0160
Email: puremath@uwaterloo.ca
Serina Camungol, Department of Pure Mathematics, University of Waterloo
“Two Out of Three Ain’t Bad”
We are all familiar with the Banach-Tarski paradox: Given a solid ball in 3-dimensional space, there exists a finite decomposition of the ball into disjoint sets which can then be put back together in a way that yields two identical copies of the original ball. But why is this possible? Could this have something to do with amenability? Our aim is to provide a brief introduction to amenability. We will state the definition, some history, examples and equivalent criterion for amenability, and discuss why it is that the Banach-Tarski paradox holds.
M3 3103
Departmental office: MC 5304
Phone: 519 888 4567 x43484
Fax: 519 725 0160
Email: puremath@uwaterloo.ca
The University of Waterloo acknowledges that much of our work takes place on the traditional territory of the Neutral, Anishinaabeg and Haudenosaunee peoples. Our main campus is situated on the Haldimand Tract, the land granted to the Six Nations that includes six miles on each side of the Grand River. Our active work toward reconciliation takes place across our campuses through research, learning, teaching, and community building, and is centralized within our Office of Indigenous Relations.