Randomness

The leading approach to the simplex method, a widely used technique for balancing complex logistical constraints, can’t get any better.

An attack on a fundamental proof technique reveals a glaring security issue for blockchains and other digital encryption schemes.

After just a few months of work, a complete newcomer to the world of sphere packing has solved one of its biggest open problems.

Researchers have devised a scheme for painting the edges of a graph that’s almost as speedy as possible.

When pigeons outnumber pigeonholes, some birds must double up. This obvious statement — and its inverse — have deep connections to many areas of math and computer science.

Randomness is essential to some research, but it’s always been prohibitively complicated. Now, we can use “pseudorandomness” instead.

Three researchers have figured out how to craft a proof that spreads out information while keeping it perfectly secret.

Across the social and biological sciences, statisticians use a technique that leverages randomness to deal with the unknown.

Computer scientist Lance Fortnow writes that by embracing the computations that surround us, we can begin to understand and tame our seemingly random world.