TheoriginalDominoProblemaskedifthereexistsanalgorithm/computerprogramthat,whengivenasinputafinitesetofdominoeswithvaryingcolorcombinationsfortheedges,canoutputabinaryanswer,`yes' or `no', whether or not copies of that set can form an infinite tiling. The problem was first posed by Hao Wang in 1961, who conjectured that the answer is positive and that such an algorithm does exist. The existence of aperiodic tilings would mean that such an algorithm <span class="italic">does not</span> exist. However, in 1966, his student, Robert Berger, proved him wrong by discovering an infinite, aperiodic tiling constructed with copies of a set of 20,426 dominoes. The resolution of Wang'soriginalquestionledtonewquestionsandmathematicianstookonthechallengeoffindingthesmallestsetofdominoesthatwouldconstructaninfiniteaperiodictiling.Overthepast60years,thisnumberhasbeencontinuallyreducedwiththecontributionsofmanydifferentmathematiciansuntilthemostrecentdiscoveryofasetof11dominoesalongwithaproofthatnosmallersetsexist.Itisaremarkablenarrative/historyofaparticularepistemologicalproblemthatchallengedagroupofpeoplenotonlytosolveit,buttounderstandittotheextentpossible.
TheoriginalDominoProblemaskedifthereexistsanalgorithm/computerprogramthat,whengivenasinputafinitesetofdominoeswithvaryingcolorcombinationsfortheedges,canoutputabinaryanswer,`yes' or `no', whether or not copies of that set can form an infinite tiling. The problem was first posed by Hao Wang in 1961, who conjectured that the answer is positive and that such an algorithm does exist. The existence of aperiodic tilings would mean that such an algorithm <span class="italic">does not</span> exist. However, in 1964, his student, Robert Berger, proved him wrong by discovering an infinite, aperiodic tiling constructed with copies of a set of 20,426 dominoes. The resolution of Wang'soriginalquestionledtonewquestionsandmathematicianstookonthechallengeoffindingthesmallestsetofdominoesthatwouldconstructaninfiniteaperiodictiling.Overthepast60years,thisnumberhasbeencontinuallyreducedwiththecontributionsofmanydifferentmathematiciansuntilthemostrecentdiscoveryofasetof11dominoesalongwithaproofthatnosmallersetsexist.Itisaremarkablenarrative/historyofaparticularepistemologicalproblemthatchallengedagroupofpeoplenotonlytosolveit,buttounderstandittotheextentpossible.
This presentationdelvesintotheremarkablehistoryofaperiodictilingsandthedominoproblem.Aperiodictilesetsrefertocollectionsoftilesthatcanonlytiletheplaneinanon-repeating,ornon-periodic,manner.Suchsetswerenotbelievedtoexistuntil1964whenR.Bergerintroducedthefirstaperiodicsetconsistingofanastonishing20,426Wangtiles.Overtheyears,ongoingresearchledtosignificantadvancements,culminatingin2015withthediscoveryofamere11WangtilesbyE.JeandelandM.Rao,alongsideacomputer-assistedproofoftheirminimality.Simultaneously,researchersfoundevensmalleraperiodicsetscomposedofpolygon-shapedtiles.Notably,Penrose's kite and dart tiles emerged as early examples, and most recently, a groundbreaking discovery was made - a solitary aperiodic tile known as the "hat" that can tile the plane exclusively in a non-periodic manner. Aperiodic tile sets are intimately connected with the domino problem that asserts how certain tile sets can tile the plane without us ever being able to establish their tiling nature with absolute certainty. Moreover, aperiodic tilings hold a distinct visual aesthetic allure. In today'smusicalpresentation,theirartisticappealtranscendsthevisualdomainandextendsintotherealmofmusic.-JarkkoKari