UAH > Math > Colloquia > 4/23/2004
Some card tricks have a spectator shuffle a deck of cards in specific ways before the magician performs some feat which seems impossible for a truly mixed deck of cards. The mathematical idea is that by understanding invariant properties of an action (shuffling!) on the deck, the performer can find order where the spectators believe they have created chaos. We will use some specific card tricks to illustrate the idea.