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19th-century mathematicians thought the “roots of unity” were the key to solving Fermat’s Last Theorem. Then they discovered a fatal flaw.
For centuries, mathematicians tried to solve problems by adding new values to the usual numbers. Now they’re investigating the unintended consequences of that tinkering.
For Sylvia Serfaty, mathematics is all about truth and beauty and building scientific and human connections.
The simple Möbius strip illustrates a deep mathematical challenge that has long tormented the field of symplectic geometry.
When two mathematicians raised pointed questions about a classic proof that no one really understood, they ignited a years-long debate about how much could be trusted in a new kind of geometry.
The ancient Greeks argued that the best life was filled with beauty, truth, justice, play and love. The mathematician Francis Su knows just where to find them.
Just five days after posting a retraction, László Babai announced that he had fixed the error in his landmark graph isomorphism algorithm.
The ancient study of an object’s curvature is guiding mathematicians toward a new understanding of simple equations.
The legendary graph isomorphism problem may be harder than a 2015 result seemed to suggest.