The Path to Aperiodic Monotiles

This article, written for undergraduate mathematics students, provides an accessible introduction to a few key problems in tiling theory: Heesch’s problem, the isohedral number problem, and the existence of an aperiodic monotile. I contributed to the solution of the last of these problems in 2023, but many related questions remain open and worthy of study. My goal is to get more students excited about studying tiling theory.