Uploaded October 2022 | Updated September 2026, 2 hours ago
Math Encounters: "Math Encounters: Error-Correcting Codes: The Mathematics of Communication" with Nathan Kaplan on July 13, 2022
Suppose we are trying to communicate over a “noisy channel.” There is some probability that the information I send is not the information you receive. We could communicate more reliably by agreeing to repeat the intended message multiple times, but there is a cost to this repetition. A major goal in the theory of error-correcting codes is to understand how to efficiently build redundancy into messages so that we can identify and correct errors. Join mathematician Nathan Kaplan as he introduces us to the ideas that go into the mathematics of communication and shares several neat examples of problems we can solve using ideas from coding theory, including “Hat Problems,” “Twenty Questions with Lies,” and strategies for gambling on soccer matches in Finland.
Special introduction by Tony Fisher, Principal, Hunter College High School.
Math Encounters is a public presentation series celebrating the spectacular world of mathematics, presented by the Simons Foundation and the National Museum of Mathematics.
For further information, call the National Museum of Mathematics at
212-542-0566 or e-mail mathencounters@momath.org.
Math Encounters: "Math Encounters: Error-Correcting Codes: The Mathematics of Communication" with Nathan Kaplan on July 13, 2022
Suppose we are trying to communicate over a “noisy channel.” There is some probability that the information I send is not the information you receive. We could communicate more reliably by agreeing to repeat the intended message multiple times, but there is a cost to this repetition. A major goal in the theory of error-correcting codes is to understand how to efficiently build redundancy into messages so that we can identify and correct errors. Join mathematician Nathan Kaplan as he introduces us to the ideas that go into the mathematics of communication and shares several neat examples of problems we can solve using ideas from coding theory, including “Hat Problems,” “Twenty Questions with Lies,” and strategies for gambling on soccer matches in Finland.
Special introduction by Tony Fisher, Principal, Hunter College High School.
Math Encounters is a public presentation series celebrating the spectacular world of mathematics, presented by the Simons Foundation and the National Museum of Mathematics.
For further information, call the National Museum of Mathematics at
212-542-0566 or e-mail mathencounters@momath.org.
