Dominoes and Their Beautiful Mathematics by Charlotte Hassenforder & Madeleine Horn ’25

Dominoes and Their Beautiful Mathematics by Charlotte Hassenforder & Madeleine Horn ’25, Monday March 10, 1:00 – 1:50pm, North Science Building 113, Wachenheim, Mathematics Colloquium

A very popular version of Dominoes, the Mexican Train Dominoes, might seem like a simple game of chance, but the game hides rather complex mathematical structures that can be best described using graph theory. We will explore various concepts and theorems from graph theory and show how they apply to the game. We’ll also present the Hassenforder/Horn version of the game, connecting it to fundamental theorems and exploring the probabilities of different paths. Join us to see how dominoes can become a surprisingly rich mathematical playground.