We care about your data, and we'd like to use cookies to give you a smooth browsing experience. Please agree and read more about our privacy policy.
Quanta Homepage
  • Physics
  • Mathematics
  • Biology
  • Computer Science
  • Topics
  • Archive

What's up in

Mathematics

Latest Articles

a human figure stacks gold coins on an equally balanced scale
Insights puzzle

How to Weigh Truth With a Balance Scale and Math

By Pradeep Mutalik
June 27, 2022
Comment
Read Later

In recreational mathematics, the balance scale is an endless source of puzzles that require precise and elaborate logic and teach the fundamentals of generalization.

Points connected by lines.
graph theory

Mathematical Connect-the-Dots Reveals How Structure Emerges

By Leila Sloman
June 23, 2022
Comment
Read Later

A new proof identifies precisely how large a mathematical graph must be before it contains a regular substructure.

Seifert surfaces formed from closed loops.
topology

Special Surfaces Remain Distinct in Four Dimensions

By Kevin Hartnett
June 16, 2022
Comment
Read Later

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.

number theory

Graduate Student’s Side Project Proves Prime Number Conjecture

By Jordana Cepelewicz
June 6, 2022
Comment
Read Later

Jared Duker Lichtman, 26, has proved a longstanding conjecture relating prime numbers to a broad class of “primitive” sets. To his adviser, it came as a “complete shock.”

An illustration of a person walking across a surface with many holes.
topology

Unimaginable Surfaces Discovered After Decades-Long Search

By Leila Sloman
June 2, 2022
Comment
Read Later

Using ideas borrowed from graph theory, two mathematicians have shown that extremely complex surfaces are easy to traverse.

Quantized Columns

What Is the Langlands Program?

By Alex Kontorovich
June 1, 2022
Comment
Read Later

The Langlands program provides a beautifully intricate set of connections between various areas of mathematics, pointing the way toward novel solutions for old problems.

A red-headed man in a purple suit runs alongside a white rabbit against a bright teal background. Large white numbers are falling out of his top hat.
Insights puzzle

The Secret Math Behind Mind-Reading Magic Tricks

By Pradeep Mutalik
May 27, 2022
Comment
Read Later

Four puzzle solutions reveal different ways to divine someone’s hidden number with impossibly little information.

A brown chimpanzee is playing on a yellow smartphone. Three Wordle blocks are above his head, reading 'Bloat," "Watch," and "Chimp"
Quantized Academy

Why Claude Shannon Would Have Been Great at Wordle

By Patrick Honner
May 25, 2022
Comment
Read Later

A bit of information theory can help you analyze — and improve — your Wordle game.

Two red loops connected by a ghostly tube.
topology

How Complex Is a Knot? New Proof Reveals Ranking System That Works.

By Leila Sloman
May 18, 2022
Comment
Read Later

“Ribbon concordance” will let mathematicians compare knots by linking them across four-dimensional space.


Previous
  • 1
  • ...
  • 4
  • 5
  • 6
  • 7
  • 8
  • 9
  • 10
  • ...
  • 49
Next
The Quanta Newsletter

Get highlights of the most important news delivered to your email inbox

Recent newsletters
Quanta Homepage
Facebook
Twitter
Youtube
Instagram

  • About Quanta
  • Archive
  • Contact Us
  • Terms & Conditions
  • Privacy Policy
  • Simons Foundation
All Rights Reserved © 2023