Kolam, Ethnomathematics, and Morphisms

Abstract: Kolam is a form of traditional decorative art in India, that is drawn by using rice flour, white stone powder, chalk or chalk powder. It is often practised by women in front of their house entrance. One particular kolam uses a 4x4 grid. It can also be found in the Vanuatu Islands, in Africa, etc. We show that a natural generalization on grids of size 8x8, 16x16, etc. is linked to... the Thue-Morse sequence. Further we unveil two (twin) morphisms that generate this family of kolam, and show that they appear in unrelated and somewhat unexpected fields. Time permitting we will allude to a vast, relatively new, field: ethnomathematic(s).

dynamical systemsnumber theory

Audience: researchers in the topic

( paper | slides )

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One World Numeration seminar

Series comments: Description: Online seminar on numeration systems and related topics

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