Math, Teaching, and Other Items of Interest
The following old post-publication correspondence provides some information and questions on the original proof that the Wulff shape minimizes anisotropic surface energy for fixed volume, as treated in our paper:
MR1297699 (95g:49080)
Brothers, John E. (1-IN); Morgan, Frank (1-WLMS)
The isoperimetric theorem for general integrands.
Michigan Math. J. 41 (1994), no. 3, 419–431.
49Q20 Continue reading ‘Wulff Shape Isoperimetric’ »
Ocean City, New Jersey, hires hawks, falcons, and owls to ward off the seagulls. Recently seagulls attacked me and my dinner at the Ocean Cafe on the Boardwalk, and they called in a hawk to chase them away. May 25 I found a dead hawk on my beach at 17th Street:
January
Verdi’s Un Ballo in Maschera, Met Opera Stream https://www.metopera.org/
Verdi’s Requiem https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=fjUQ8siaEj4
Hans Christian Andersen https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=DTYd0wWBd5o&has_verified=1
The Professor and the Madman (Netflix)
January
Moonlight (gay black, Netflix)
The First Temptation of Christ (Netflix)
Love Lettering by Kate Clayborn (Meg and Reid)
Star Trek Picard U
[See also iNaturalist and some more professional, California PHOTOS by my friend Abby Thompson.]
Blue Crab, Laughing Gull
After four itinerant years since retirement, on September 28, 2020, I bought a small condo on the Boardwalk in Ocean City, New Jersey. Living on the ocean has been a life-long dream. I have daily sunrise walks, bike rides on the Boardwalk, and body surfing in the ocean (even now in November in my wet suit). I’m also playing lots of bridge online with my favorite partners from across the country and beyond. Live cam of my beach. More photos at SeeingHappy.com.BodySurf3
Continue reading ‘Ocean City’ »
At the Shore Bridge Club with Jane Havighurst today, I risked one overtrick at 3N to gain a second. I won the Club lead on the board, tested the Diamonds with the Ace, and took the Spade finesse. Now I could count 10 tricks: 2 Spades, H Ace, 5 Dimaonds, and 2 Clubs. To squeeze out an eleventh required rectifying the count, so I ducked a Heart. Had West continued with Spades or Hearts, I would not have been able to set up another Club trick, but as I expected, he continued Clubs. Now at the end by the time I have SA8 H4 in hand and HA7 S2 on the board, East can no longer be guarding both Hearts and Spades. 3N+2 was worth 96.4%, tying one other pair whose opponents early misdiscarded.
A miscount of keycards on my part led to this terrible Heart slam, which very luckily made. I won the Heart lead in hand, Club finesse, Diamond to hand, Club finesse, then discarding my Spade K as Clubs broke 3-3 with the K onside. When I now played a small H, North took his Q and led his Spade Ace, setting up dummy’s QJ. I ruffed in hand, discarded the S9 on my remaining high Diamond, and led my remaining Heart to dummy’s K, finding trump also breaking 3-3. Dummy was good.
(Virtual NYC August 12, 2020 with Jim Berry.)
Two interesting Spade slams yesterday. In the first with Bob Cole, on the common Club lead, we can trump three Clubs in dummy and get a third entry to hand by finessing the SJ (or overtaking the SK with the SA; both work with J doubleton onside). The Diamond split provides an overtrick.
The second, with Mike Kohler, was the first time I ever redoubled a slam. This time there are plenty of entries to ruff three Hearts in West. No one else was even in slam.
In a regional online ACBL bridge tournament today, I was sorry to hear my LHO open 1D, my partner Bob Cole overcall 2C, my LHO double, and my RHO pass. Sounded bad, so I tried 2H, P, P, x. Still sounded bad, so I tried 2S, x, P, P, P. This one made for a top.
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