Kevin Hartnett

Kevin Hartnett

Contributing Writer

Latest Articles

Secret Link Uncovered Between Pure Math and Physics

December 1, 2017

An eminent mathematician reveals that his advances in the study of millennia-old mathematical questions owe to concepts derived from physics.

Best-Ever Algorithm Found for Huge Streams of Data

October 24, 2017

To efficiently analyze a firehose of data, scientists first have to break big numbers into bits.

Artificial Intelligence Learns to Learn Entirely on Its Own

October 18, 2017

A new version of AlphaGo needed no human instruction to figure out how to clobber the best Go player in the world — itself.

Visionary Mathematician Vladimir Voevodsky Dies at 51

October 11, 2017

Voevodsky’s friends remember him as constitutionally unable to compromise on the truth — a quality that led him to produce some of the most important mathematics of the 20th century.

Mathematicians Measure Infinities and Find They’re Equal

September 12, 2017

Two mathematicians have proved that two different infinities are equal in size, settling a long-standing question. Their proof rests on a surprising link between the sizes of infinities and the complexity of mathematical theories.

The Math That Promises to Make the World Brighter

September 6, 2017

The color of LED lights is controlled by a clumsy process. A new mathematical discovery may make it easier for us to get the hues we want.

Mathematicians Tame Rogue Waves, Lighting Up Future of LEDs

August 22, 2017

The mathematician Svitlana Mayboroda and collaborators have figured out how to predict the behavior of electrons — a mathematical discovery that could have immediate practical effects.

Why Mathematicians Like to Classify Things

August 15, 2017

It’s “a definitive study for all time, like writing the final book,” says one researcher who’s mapping out new classes of geometric structures.

New Shapes Solve Infinite Pool-Table Problem

August 8, 2017

Two “rare jewels” have illuminated a mysterious multidimensional object that connects a huge variety of mathematical work.