Related papers: A strange bridge by Leonardo
We study the statistics of meanders, i.e. configurations of a road crossing a river through "n" bridges, and possibly winding around the source, as a toy model for compact folding of polymers. We introduce a Monte-Carlo method which allows…
We investigate a family of one dimensional maps for which the bifurcation diagram looks differently than the usual ones. We describe and exemplify various unique and interesting phenomena arising for this family of maps.
A re-examination of a well-known iconographic source, the "Allegory of Sight" by Jan Brueghel the Elder and Peter Paul Rubens, reveals that one of the two telescopes depicted in the painting has a highly unusual,and until now unknown to the…
We investigate a lattice-fluid model defined on a two-dimensional triangular lattice, with the aim of reproducing qualitatively some anomalous properties of water. Model molecules are of the "Mercedes Benz" type, i.e., they possess a D3…
The paper introduces a new 3D strange attractor topologically different from any other known chaotic attractors. The intentionally constructed model of three autonomous first-order differential equations derives from the coupling-induced…
For any pair of integers $m$ and $n$ such that $3<m<n$, we provide an infinite family of links, where each link in the family has a locally minimal $n$-bridge position and a globally minimal $m$-bridge position. We accomplish this by…
We introduce bridge trisections of knotted surfaces in the four-sphere. This description is inspired by the work of Gay and Kirby on trisections of four-manifolds and extends the classical concept of bridge splittings of links in the…
One of the most famous drawings by Leonardo da Vinci is a self-portrait in red chalk, where he looks quite old. In fact, there is a sketch in one of his notebooks, partially covered by written notes, that can be a self-portrait of the…
This paper explores how far the scientific discovery process can be automated. Using the identification of causally significant flow structures in two-dimensional turbulence as an example, it probes how far the usual procedure of planning…
This expository article outlines the construction of De Concini-Procesi arrangement models and describes recent progress in understanding their significance from the algebraic, geometric, and combinatorial point of view. Throughout the…
To most mathematicians and computer scientists the word ``tree'' conjures up, in addition to the usual image, the image of a connected graph with no circuits. In the last few years various types of trees have been the subject of much…
All attempts of aeroelastic explanations for the torsional instability of suspension bridges have been somehow criticised and none of them is unanimously accepted by the scientific community. We suggest a new nonlinear model for a…
We study terminally attached self-avoiding walks and bridges on the simple cubic lattice, both by series analysis and Monte Carlo methods. We provide strong numerical evidence supporting a scaling relation between self-avoiding walks,…
Amorphous solids show surprisingly universal behaviour at low temperatures. The prevailing wisdom is that this can be explained by the existence of two-state defects within the material. The so-called standard tunneling model has become the…
It is difficult for the common sense to admit that an object dropped from the top of the mast of a ship moving at a constant velocity falls down at the bottom of the mast because it keeps inside the horizontal movement of the ship. This…
The study describes a class of integer labelings of the Fibonacci tree, the tree of descent introduced by Fibonacci. In these labelings, Fibonacci sequences appear along ascending branches of the tree, and it is shown that the labels at any…
The BRIDGES meeting in gauge theory, extremal structures, and stability was held in June 2024 at l'Institut d'\'Etudes Scientifiques de Carg\`ese in Corsica, organized by Daniele Faenzi, Eveline Legendre, Eric Loubeau, and Henrique S\'a…
Inspired by the Melan equation we propose a model for suspension bridges with two cables linked to a deck, through inextensible hangers. We write the energy of the system and we derive from variational principles two nonlinear and nonlocal…
This paper revisits Buridan's Bridge paradox (Sophismata, chapter 8, Sophism 17), itself close kin to the Liar paradox, a version of which also appears in Bradwardine's Insolubilia. Prompted by the occurrence of the paradox in Cervantes's…
This paper collects some problems that I have encountered during the years, have puzzled me and which, to the best of my knowledge, are still open. Most of them are well-known and have been first stated by other authors. In this sad season…