The Undergraduate Mathematics Seminar in the Department of Mathematics at the University of Pittsburgh is pleased to offer the following public talk on Math and Music presents Professor Neal Bushaw, Ph.D., Virginia Commonwealth University.
William Pitt Union 540
Abstract or Additional Information
What is a musical chord, to a discrete mathematician? What about a scale, or a rhythm? In this talk, we explore these (and other) mathematical versions of musical notions, with a focus on problems that seem like combinatorics. How many scales or chords are there with some specified property? How can we measure a scale, chord, or rhythm? Can we enumerate all chords (and thus find Leonard Cohen's Secret Chord along the way)?
Can we use any of this to make drum machines? We'll see surprising connections between these musical notions, and glimpse the tip of a mathematical iceberg which began with the study of wealth inequality by Muirhead and Lorenz in the early twentieth century, and which was later expanded by mathematical titans Schur, Littlewood, Hardy, and Poly\'a.
This talk is intended for a general audience -- no background in either music theory or combinatorics is expected! This talk includes joint work with Viktoriya Bardenova, Brent Cody, Paul Fay, Luke Freeman, Chris Leffler, Maya Tennant, and Toby Whitaker.