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mathematics

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number theory

Probability and Number Theory Collide — in a Moment

By Leila Sloman
January 12, 2023
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Mathematicians are taking ideas developed to study random numbers and applying them to a broad range of categories.

Illustration of Russian dolls sitting inside a larger Russian doll.
combinatorics

Google Researcher, Long Out of Math, Cracks Problem About Sets

By Kevin Hartnett
January 3, 2023
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On nights and weekends, Justin Gilmer attacked an old question in pure math using the tools of information theory.

2022 in Review

The Year in Math

By Konstantin Kakaes
December 22, 2022
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Four Fields Medals were awarded for major breakthroughs in geometry, combinatorics, statistical physics and number theory, even as mathematicians continued to wrestle with how computers are changing the discipline.

2022 in Review

The Year in Computer Science

By Bill Andrews
December 21, 2022
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Computer scientists this year learned how to transmit perfect secrets, why transformers seem so good at everything, and how to improve on decades-old algorithms (with a little help from AI).

geometry

‘Nasty’ Geometry Breaks Decades-Old Tiling Conjecture

By Jordana Cepelewicz
December 15, 2022
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Mathematicians predicted that if they imposed enough restrictions on how a shape might tile space, they could force a periodic pattern to emerge. But they were wrong.

Blue numbers moving down an assembly line being picked up by mechanical claw hands.
combinatorics

From Systems in Motion, Infinite Patterns Appear

By Leila Sloman
December 5, 2022
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Mathematicians are finding inevitable structures in sufficiently large sets of integers.

Insights puzzle

The Math Behind Wordle Guesses

By Pradeep Mutalik
December 2, 2022
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Wordle is a word game. But you can use math to optimize your chances of winning (without cheating).

number theory

Mathematical Trio Advances Centuries-Old Number Theory Problem

By Erica Klarreich
November 29, 2022
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The work — the first-ever limit on how many whole numbers can be written as the sum of two cubed fractions — makes significant headway on “a recurring embarrassment for number theorists.”

neural networks

AI Reveals New Possibilities in Matrix Multiplication

By Ben Brubaker
November 23, 2022
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Inspired by the results of a game-playing neural network, mathematicians have been making unexpected advances on an age-old math problem.


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