Presented By: Math Grad Show and Tell Seminar - Department of Mathematics
Math Grad Show and Tell Seminar: The surprising asymptotics of bingo
Surya Subbarao
Inspired by Okta Verify Bingo in the graduate lounge, consider an N by N square of cells. Every second, a uniformly random cell is chosen (with replacement) and filled in. What is the expected amount of time until a bingo, i.e. a fully filled in row, column, or diagonal? How does this grow asymptotically as N increases? The answer involves some interesting mathematics and may surprise you.