Talk information

Date: Sunday, April 6, 2025
Time: 10:10–11:00
Place: Schreiber 309
Speaker: Julian Sahasrabudhe (Cambridge University)
Title: A new lower bound for sphere packing

Abstract:

What is the maximum proportion of d-dimensional space that can be covered by disjoint, identical spheres? In this talk I will discuss a new lower bound for this problem, which is the first asymptotically growing improvement to Rogers’ bound from 1947. Our proof is almost entirely combinatorial and reduces to a novel theorem about independent sets in graphs with bounded degrees and co-degrees.

This is based on joint work with Marcelo Campos, Matthew Jenssen and Marcus Michelen.