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Kevin Hartnett

Kevin Hartnett

Contributing Writer

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Latest Articles

A man in a blue jacket on a staircase.
Q&A

A Plan to Address the World’s Challenges With Math

By Kevin Hartnett
May 11, 2023
Comment
Read Later

Minhyong Kim is leading a new initiative called Mathematics for Humanity that encourages mathematicians to apply their skills to solving social problems.

combinatorics

The Number 15 Describes the Secret Limit of an Infinite Grid

By Kevin Hartnett
April 20, 2023
Comment
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The “packing coloring” problem asks how many numbers are needed to fill an infinite grid so that identical numbers never get too close to one another. A new computer-assisted proof finds a surprisingly straightforward answer.

mathematical physics

A New Symmetry Shakes Up Physics

By Kevin Hartnett
April 18, 2023
Comment
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So-called “higher symmetries” are illuminating everything from particle decays to the behavior of complex quantum systems.

A human speaks to a neural network, which produces mathematical equations, against a starry background
artificial intelligence

To Teach Computers Math, Researchers Merge AI Approaches

By Kevin Hartnett
February 15, 2023
Comment
Read Later

Large language models still struggle with basic reasoning tasks. Two new papers that apply machine learning to math provide a blueprint for how that could change.

Illustration of Russian dolls sitting inside a larger Russian doll.
combinatorics

Google Researcher, Long Out of Math, Cracks Problem About Sets

By Kevin Hartnett
January 3, 2023
Comment
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On nights and weekends, Justin Gilmer attacked an old question in pure math using the tools of information theory.

neuroscience

The Brain Uses Calculus to Control Fast Movements

By Kevin Hartnett
November 28, 2022
Comment
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Researchers discover that to sharpen its control over precision maneuvers, the brain uses comparisons between control signals — not the signals themselves.

Illustration of thumbs flipping coins.
information theory

How Shannon Entropy Imposes Fundamental Limits on Communication

By Kevin Hartnett
September 6, 2022
Comment
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What’s a message, really? Claude Shannon recognized that the elemental ingredient is surprise.

A deltoid and other mathematical shapes.
geometry

A Question About a Rotating Line Helps Reveal What Makes Real Numbers Special

By Kevin Hartnett
July 26, 2022
Comment
Read Later

The Kakeya conjecture predicts how much room you need to point a line in every direction. In one number system after another — with one important exception — mathematicians have been proving it true.

Seifert surfaces formed from closed loops.
topology

Special Surfaces Remain Distinct in Four Dimensions

By Kevin Hartnett
June 16, 2022
Comment
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For decades mathematicians have searched for a specific pair of surfaces that can’t be transformed into each other in four-dimensional space. Now they’ve found them.


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About the author

Kevin Hartnett was the senior writer at Quanta Magazine covering mathematics and computer science. His work has been collected in multiple volumes of the “Best Writing on Mathematics” series. From 2013-2016 he wrote “Brainiac,” a weekly column for the Boston Globe‘s Ideas section.
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