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Photo of black and white swirls of mixing paint
fluid dynamics

Mathematicians Prove Universal Law of Turbulence

By Kevin Hartnett
February 4, 2020
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By exploiting randomness, three mathematicians have proved an elegant law that underlies the chaotic motion of turbulent systems.

Abstractions blog

For Fluid Equations, a Steady Flow of Progress

By Kevin Hartnett
January 13, 2020
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A startling experimental discovery about how fluids behave started a wave of important mathematical proofs.

Animation of two rings of fluid approaching each other and colliding.
fluid dynamics

Famous Fluid Equations Spring a Leak

By Kevin Hartnett
December 18, 2019
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Researchers have spent centuries looking for a scenario in which the Euler fluid equations fail. Now a mathematician has finally found one.

Animated graphic showing different ways many numbers can arrive at 1 via the Collatz process
number theory

Mathematician Proves Huge Result on ‘Dangerous’ Problem

By Kevin Hartnett
December 11, 2019
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Mathematicians regard the Collatz conjecture as a quagmire and warn each other to stay away. But now Terence Tao has made more progress than anyone in decades.

Animation of a black hole rotating.
Abstractions blog

Black Hole Singularities Are as Inescapable as Expected

By Steve Nadis
December 2, 2019
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For the first time, physicists have calculated exactly what kind of singularity lies at the center of a realistic black hole.

Art for "Karen Uhlenbeck, Uniter of Geometry and Analysis, Wins Abel Prize"
Abel Prize

Karen Uhlenbeck, Uniter of Geometry and Analysis, Wins Abel Prize

By Erica Klarreich
March 19, 2019
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A founder of modern geometric analysis who produced “some of the most dramatic advances in mathematics in the last 40 years,” Uhlenbeck is the first woman to be awarded this top honor.

Art for "The Trouble With Turbulence"
In Theory

The Trouble With Turbulence

By Michael Moyer
January 28, 2019
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Turbulence is everywhere, yet it is one of the most difficult concepts for physicists to understand.

Photo illustration of Alessio Figalli
2018 Fields Medal and Nevanlinna Prize

A Traveler Who Finds Stability in the Natural World

By Kevin Hartnett
August 1, 2018
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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.

Photo of Jupiter for "Mathematicians Tame Turbulence in Flattened Fluids"
fluid dynamics

Mathematicians Tame Turbulence in Flattened Fluids

By Joshua Sokol
June 27, 2018
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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.


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