Experimental Mathematics: High-Performance Computing Meets Pure Mathematics

David Bailey, Lawrence Berkeley Labs

Stevenson Hall 1300
12:00 PM - 12:50 PM

Although computer technology had its origin in the field of pure mathematics, until recently it was thought that "real mathematicians don't compute." This has all changed in the past ten years or so, as numerous mathematicians are now using sophisticated computations in their research. The speaker will describe some results where high-precision computations, often performed on highly parallel computer systems, have produced striking new results of mathematics. One of the best known of these is a new formula for pi, which permits binary digits of pi to be computed beginning at an arbitrary starting position.