Abstract mathematical objects are discussed every day in The Alan Turing Building, but the building is also home to the University's own physical model of a particularly fascinating object: the Gomboc (Goemboetz).
The Gomboc (Goemboetz) is a three-dimensional solid object that has the same composition throughout. What's unusual is that it has one stable and one unstable point of equilibrium or balance point.
If you put a Gomboc (Goemboetz) down on a table, it’ll start to move and wiggle all over the place until it finds the only stable equilibrium point -- in other words the Gomboc is self-righting! But, if you could balance it perfectly in the unstable equilibrium and leave it alone it would stay there forever. Unfortunately, the slightest disturbance will cause it to move away from the equilibrium (that's why its unstable) until it finds the stable equilibrium again.
The study of mathematical objects is fascinating in its own right, but the concept of stability is fundamentally important in many areas of research taking place in the mathematics Department, including the flow of avalanches, the stability of flames and bubbles, biological growth, and the spread of diseases. In fact, the mathematics used to analyse the stability of rocking stones was taught in the Department over 100 years ago, and it remains relevant to the present day.
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