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Mathematics

Latest Articles

An illustration of a mathematician staring up at an infinite pile of cubes of varying sizes and colors.
Quantized Academy

Why the Sum of Three Cubes Is a Hard Math Problem

By Patrick Honner
November 5, 2019
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Looking for answers in infinite space is hard. High school math can help narrow your search.

Animation showing two sets of tangrams cycling between identical squares and different shapes.
geometry

Mathematicians Cut Apart Shapes to Find Pieces of Equations

By Kevin Hartnett
October 31, 2019
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New work on the problem of “scissors congruence” explains when it’s possible to slice up one shape and reassemble it as another.

Photo of a yellow sunflower against a yellow background.
Abstractions blog

Mathematicians Begin to Tame Wild ‘Sunflower’ Problem

By Kevin Hartnett
October 21, 2019
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A major advance toward solving the 60-year-old sunflower conjecture is shedding light on how order begins to appear as random systems grow in size.

foundations of mathematics

With Category Theory, Mathematics Escapes From Equality

By Kevin Hartnett
October 10, 2019
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Two monumental works have led many mathematicians to avoid the equal sign. The process has not always gone smoothly.

An illustration of a sunset beach scene turned into a puzzle.
Insights puzzle

Solution: ‘Perfect Randomness’

By Pradeep Mutalik
September 27, 2019
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Is nature inherently random or is perfect randomness just an illusion based on our ignorance?

Colored spheres arranged in pairs.
prime numbers

Big Question About Primes Proved in Small Number Systems

By Kevin Hartnett
September 26, 2019
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The twin primes conjecture is one of the most important and difficult questions in mathematics. Two mathematicians have solved a parallel version of the problem for small number systems.

Two competitors are racing to solve the multiplication problem 25 times 63 in two separate lanes of a running track. One competitor is using the standard multiplication algorithm while the other is using Karatsuba method.
Quantized Academy

On Your Mark, Get Set, Multiply

By Patrick Honner
September 23, 2019
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The way you learned to multiply works, but computers employ a faster algorithm.

An illustration of eyeballs connected to many hands painting the Mona Lisa.
mathematical biology

A Mathematical Model Unlocks the Secrets of Vision

By Kevin Hartnett
August 21, 2019
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Mathematicians and neuroscientists have created the first anatomically accurate model that explains how vision is possible.

An illustration of a sunset beach scene turned into a puzzle.
Insights puzzle

The Puzzling Search for Perfect Randomness

By Pradeep Mutalik
August 20, 2019
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Does objective, perfect randomness exist, or is randomness merely a product of our ignorance?


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