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A Traveler Who Finds Stability in the Natural World
The mathematician Alessio Figalli is rarely in one place for very long. But his work has established the stability of everything from crystals to weather fronts by using concepts derived from Napoleonic fortifications.
Major Quantum Computing Advance Made Obsolete by Teenager
18-year-old Ewin Tang has proven that classical computers can solve the “recommendation problem” nearly as fast as quantum computers. The result eliminates one of the best examples of quantum speedup.
Solution: ‘The Slippery Math of Causation’
The all-too-intuitive picture of a straight arrow going from cause to effect is far too simplistic to describe the real world.
Mathematicians Tame Turbulence in Flattened Fluids
By squeezing fluids into flat sheets, researchers can get a handle on the strange ways that turbulence feeds energy into a system instead of eating it away.
Mathematics Shows How to Ensure Evolution
New results emerging from graph theory prove that the way a population is organized can guarantee the eventual triumph of natural selection — or permanently thwart it.
Her Key to Modeling Brains: Ignore the Right Details
Being able to think like a physicist helps Carina Curto, a mathematician-turned-neuroscientist, pull insights about the human brain out of theoretical models.
Four Is Not Enough
How many colors do you need to color an infinite plane so that no points 1 unit apart are the same color?
The Slippery Math of Causation
If a forest is burning and we don’t know what’s responsible, does it have a cause?
A Classical Math Problem Gets Pulled Into the Modern World
A century ago, the great mathematician David Hilbert posed a probing question in pure mathematics. A recent advance in optimization theory is bringing Hilbert’s work into a world of self-driving cars.