KTH/SU Mathematics Colloquium
2005-03-16
Persi Diaconis, Stanford University
A Mathematician Flips a Coin
Ordinary flips of a coin are a model example of random phenomena. In
joint work with Susan Holmes and Richard Montgomery, it is proved that
coin tossing is biased to come up the way it started. The analysis
involves integrating over SO(3), Tauberian Theorems and an excursion
into image analysis of high-speed, slow motion movies.