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Fermat’s Last Theorem
Q&A
The Mathematician Who Delights in Building Bridges
Ana Caraiani seeks to unify mathematics through her work on the ambitious Langlands program.
Q&A
A Number Theorist Who Connects Math to Other Creative Pursuits
Jordan Ellenberg enjoys studying — and writing about — the mathematics underlying everyday phenomena.
Abstractions blog
The ‘Useless’ Perspective That Transformed Mathematics
Representation theory was initially dismissed. Today, it’s central to much of mathematics.
Langlands program
‘Amazing’ Math Bridge Extended Beyond Fermat’s Last Theorem
Mathematicians have figured out how to expand the reach of a mysterious bridge connecting two distant continents in the mathematical world.
Multimedia
The Map of Mathematics
Explore our surprisingly simple, absurdly ambitious and necessarily incomplete guide to the boundless mathematical universe.
Quantized Columns
Why the Proof of Fermat’s Last Theorem Doesn’t Need to Be Enhanced
Decades after the landmark proof of Fermat’s Last Theorem, ideas abound for how to make it even more reliable. But such efforts reflect a deep misunderstanding of what makes the proof so important.
Quantized Columns
The Subtle Art of the Mathematical Conjecture
It’s an educated guess, not a proof. But a good conjecture will guide math forward, pointing the way into the mathematical unknown.
Abstractions blog
The Almost-Proof of Fermat’s Last Theorem
19th-century mathematicians thought the “roots of unity” were the key to solving Fermat’s Last Theorem. Then they discovered a fatal flaw.