Lab Lunch: 25 February 2020 - John Longley

Title: The Theory of Dobble

Abstract:

'Dobble' is a children's card game in which each card carries 8 symbols, and any two cards have exactly one symbol in common. A Dobble pack thus embodies an interesting and non-trivial combinatorial structure (an example of a so-called *block design*), which is best understood in terms of projective geometry over a finite field. The underlying theory also has applications to error-correcting codes and to the design of biological experiments.

This talk will be a slightly more advanced version of a talk I recently gave at Boroughmuir After School Maths Club on the mathematics of Dobble. As well as an explanation of the theory, it will feature a few card tricks with my own uniquely enhanced Dobble set.