Thesis_Research_Jay: Henry Segerman

Henry Segerman is an Associate Professor in the Department of Mathematics at Oklahoma State University. In addition to his research in three-dimensional geometry and topology, he is also a mathematical artist, working primarily in the medium of 3D printing, with other interests in virtual reality and spherical video.

In Henry's works, I got interested in his Stereographic projection projects. Stereographic projection is a map from the sphere to the plane. Imagine straight lines going from the north pole of the sphere down onto the plane. Each line hits the sphere at one point and the plane in one point. Stereographic projection maps that point on the sphere to the point on the plane.

So if you put a light source at the north pole of this sculpture, the rays of light effectively do stereographic projection. The curves on the sphere cast shadows, mapping them to a straight line grid on the plane.