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Arithmetic billiards show a nice interplay between arithmetics and geometry. The billiard table is a rectangle with integer side lengths. A pointwise ball moves with constant speed along segments making a 45° angle with the sides and bounces on these. In the classical setting, the ball is shooted from a corner and lands in a corner. We allow the ball to start at any point with integer distances from the sides: either the ball lands in a corner or the trajectory is periodic. The length of the path and of certain segments in the path are precisely (up to the factor √2 or 2√2) the least common multiple and the greatest common divisor of the side lengths.

eISSN:
2182-1976
Sprache:
Englisch
Zeitrahmen der Veröffentlichung:
2 Hefte pro Jahr
Fachgebiete der Zeitschrift:
Mathematik, Allgemeines