Seminars & Colloquia Calendar
Kempe's Attempted Proof of the Four Color Theorem
Charles Kenney - Rutgers University
Location: Graduate Student Lounge, 7th Floor, Hill Center
Date & time: Wednesday, 14 September 2022 at 12:15PM - 1:15PM
Abstract In 1878, Arthur Cayley asked the London Mathematical Society for a proof of the four colour theorem: that any map drawn on a simply connected surface can be coloured with 4 or fewer colours so that no two adjacent regions receive the same colour. A year later in 1879, Alfred Kempe published a famous solution (attempt) to the problem Cayley had publicized, only to have a mistake pointed-out by Percy Heawood in 1890. I will discuss Kempe's (attempted) proof and, time permitting, Heawood's refutation.
