The Banach-Tarski Paradox

Jeff Boersema, Seattle University

The Banach-Tarski paradox is a well-known result that directly contradicts our mathematical intuition. It says that a sphere can be cut into a finite number of pieces that can be rearranged and reassembled into two copies of the same sphere. The paradoxical nature of this result casts doubt on the accepted techniques of modern mathematics. We will walk through a detailed outline of this proof, dig deeper into the apparent paradox that it presents, and perhaps come to some resolution.

Refreshments precede the talk at 3:30 in NH 282.