Algebraic Starscapes — Gaukurinn Exhibition
Exhibition of a series of Algebraic Starscapes prints at Gaukurinn, Reykjavik, Iceland.
The Algebraic Starscapes series was created during the ICERM “Illustrating Mathematics” programme in autumn 2019, in collaboration with Katherine Stange and Steve Trettel. Each image places a dot in the complex plane at every root of every integer-coefficient polynomial up to a given degree, with dot size encoding the arithmetic complexity of each algebraic number — the smaller the coefficients needed to define it, the larger it appears.
The resulting images have the quality of star charts: dense clusters, arcs, and voids that reflect deep structure in number theory rather than the night sky. This exhibition at Gaukurinn, a cultural centre in Reykjavik, brought the series to Iceland in 2020.