The Graph Menagerie: Abstract Algebra and the Mad Veterinarian
- Published in 2011
- Added on
In the collections
This article begins with a fanciful concept from recreational mathematics: a machine that can transmogrify a single animal of a given species into a finite nonempty collection of animals from any number of species. Given this premise, a natural question arises: if a Mad Veterinarian has a finite slate of such machines, then which animal menageries are equivalent? To answer this question, the authors associate to the slate of machines a directed "Mad Vet" graph. They then show that the corresponding collection of equivalence classes of animal menageries forms a semigroup and use the structure of the Mad Vet graph to determine when this collection is actually a group. In addition, the authors show that the Mad Vet groups can be identified explicitly using the Smith normal form of a matrix closely related to the incidence matrix of the Mad Vet graph.
Links
- https://www.maa.org/programs/maa-awards/writing-awards/the-graph-menagerie-abstract-algebra-and-the-mad-veterinarian
- https://www.maa.org/sites/default/files/pdf/upload_library/22/Allendoerfer/Abrams2011.pdf
Other information
- key
- TheGraphMenagerieAbstractAlgebraAndTheMadVeterinarian
- type
- article
- date_added
- 2019-11-06
- date_published
- 2011-10-09
BibTeX entry
@article{TheGraphMenagerieAbstractAlgebraAndTheMadVeterinarian,
key = {TheGraphMenagerieAbstractAlgebraAndTheMadVeterinarian},
type = {article},
title = {The Graph Menagerie: Abstract Algebra and the Mad Veterinarian},
author = {Gene Abrams and Jessica K. Sklar},
abstract = {This article begins with a fanciful concept from recreational mathematics: a machine that can transmogrify a single animal of a given species into a finite nonempty collection of animals from any number of species. Given this premise, a natural question arises: if a Mad Veterinarian has a finite slate of such machines, then which animal menageries are equivalent? To answer this question, the authors associate to the slate of machines a directed "Mad Vet" graph. They then show that the corresponding collection of equivalence classes of animal menageries forms a semigroup and use the structure of the Mad Vet graph to determine when this collection is actually a group. In addition, the authors show that the Mad Vet groups can be identified explicitly using the Smith normal form of a matrix closely related to the incidence matrix of the Mad Vet graph.},
comment = {},
date_added = {2019-11-06},
date_published = {2011-10-09},
urls = {https://www.maa.org/programs/maa-awards/writing-awards/the-graph-menagerie-abstract-algebra-and-the-mad-veterinarian,https://www.maa.org/sites/default/files/pdf/upload{\_}library/22/Allendoerfer/Abrams2011.pdf},
collections = {Animals,Attention-grabbing titles,Easily explained,Puzzles},
url = {https://www.maa.org/programs/maa-awards/writing-awards/the-graph-menagerie-abstract-algebra-and-the-mad-veterinarian https://www.maa.org/sites/default/files/pdf/upload{\_}library/22/Allendoerfer/Abrams2011.pdf},
urldate = {2019-11-06},
year = 2011
}