DMS Colloquium: Hal Schenk

Speaker: Hal Schenk

Title: Wachspress varieties: algebraic geometry meets numerical analysis.
 
Abstract: In 1975, Wachspress introduced barycentric coordinates for a polygon as a tool for approximation theory and numerical analysis. In a recent SIAM J. Numerical Analysis paper, Floater posed the question of determining the algebraic relations among the Wachspress coordinates; this makes the process of ascertaining if a point is in the image of the Wachspress map much faster. Using tools from computational algebra and algebraic topology we provide an answer to this question (joint work with C. Irving).