Speaker: Xavier Gràcia

Date:  April  25th, 2024 (Thursday), 12:00-1pm  (Topeka, Kansas,  time)

Abstract: The theory of musical scales is at least 26 centuries old, when the Pythagoreans noticed that two similar strings sounding together are more pleasant when their lengths are in small integer ratios. Many years later it was discovered that the harmonic spectrum of a sounding string explains that consonance. How can we construct a musical scale with enough pleasant intervals?  What happens if the spectrum is not harmonic? In this talk we will try to give some answers to these questions.

About the speaker: Xavier Gràcia is a professor in the Department of Mathematics of the Technical University of Catalonia (UPC). He studied physics and mathematics, and obtained his PhD in physics in the University of Barcelona. His main research interests are differential geometry and its applications, especially to mathematical physics. Among many other courses, he teaches Music and Mathematics at the Faculty of Mathematics and Statistics, where he has supervised several bachelor theses on this topic. He is also an amateur  musician who plays the bassoon in the Orchestra of the UPC.

Webpage: https://web.mat.upc.edu/xavier.gracia/