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mathematical physics

A pixelated black and white animation of a model of percolation.
mathematical physics

Mathematicians Prove Symmetry of Phase Transitions

By Allison Whitten
July 8, 2021
Read Later

A group of mathematicians has shown that at critical moments, a symmetry called rotational invariance is a universal property across many physical systems.

Math Meets QFT

Nathan Seiberg on How Math Might Complete the Ultimate Physics Theory

By Kevin Hartnett
June 24, 2021
Read Later

Even in an incomplete state, quantum field theory is the most successful physical theory ever discovered. Nathan Seiberg, one of its leading architects, talks about the gaps in QFT and how mathematicians could fill them.

Math Meets QFT

Mathematicians Prove 2D Version of Quantum Gravity Really Works

By Charlie Wood
June 17, 2021
Read Later

In three towering papers, a team of mathematicians has worked out the details of Liouville quantum field theory, a two-dimensional model of quantum gravity.

Math Meets QFT

The Mystery at the Heart of Physics That Only Math Can Solve

By Kevin Hartnett
June 10, 2021
Read Later

The accelerating effort to understand the mathematics of quantum field theory will have profound consequences for both math and physics.

A GIF showing increasingly more twists being added to the curves on a sphere.
geometry

Mathematicians Identify Threshold at Which Shapes Give Way

By Mordechai Rorvig
June 3, 2021
Read Later

A new proof establishes the boundary at which a shape becomes so corrugated, it can be crushed.

A looping image of two black holes orbiting one another, with the second one smaller than the first.
mathematical physics

New Black Hole Math Closes Cosmic Blind Spot

By Steve Nadis
May 13, 2021
Read Later

A mathematical shortcut for analyzing black hole collisions works even in cases where it shouldn’t. As astronomers use it to search for new classes of hidden black holes, others wonder: Why?

Quantized Columns

Isadore Singer Transcended Mathematical Boundaries

By Daniel S. Freed
March 4, 2021
Read Later

A former graduate student reflects on how Isadore Singer, who died on February 11, brought together mathematicians, physicists and anyone else interested in the deeper connections between diverse fields.

Mathematician Lauren Williams standing in front of a whiteboard that has mathematics written on it.
combinatorics

A Mathematician’s Unanticipated Journey Through the Physical World

By Kevin Hartnett
December 16, 2020
Read Later

Lauren Williams has charted an adventurous mathematical career out of the pieces of a fundamental object called the positive Grassmannian.

Graphical model of a cubic earth.
geophysics

Scientists Uncover the Universal Geometry of Geology

By Joshua Sokol
November 19, 2020
Read Later

An exercise in pure mathematics has led to a wide-ranging theory of how the world comes together.


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