Dr. Edward Goetze

"Lights Out" & "Magic Square"

Puzzles and Group Actions

We will describe a few popular puzzles and analyze strategies for solving them. Questions of solvability ("Do all puzzles have solutions?") and efficiency ("Is this the optimal solution to a puzzle?") will also be posed. To answer these questions, we will provide an introduction to Groups and Group Actions, and then use some of these ideas to answer our questions.

No previous experience necessary!