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Two Researchers Are Rebuilding Mathematics From the Ground Up
By replacing the most fundamental concept in topology, Peter Scholze and Dustin Clausen are taking the first step in a far bigger program to understand why numbers behave the way they do.
A Powerful New ‘QR Code’ Untangles Math’s Knottiest Knots
With a newly discovered mathematical tool, researchers are hoping to gain unprecedented insight into the structure of complex knots.
Two Twisty Shapes Resolve a Centuries-Old Topology Puzzle
The Bonnet problem asks when just a bit of information is enough to uniquely identify a whole surface.
What Is a Manifold?
In the mid-19th century, Bernhard Riemann conceived of a new way to think about mathematical spaces, providing the foundation for modern geometry and physics.
A Simple Way To Measure Knots Has Come Unraveled
Two mathematicians have proved that a straightforward question — how hard is it to untie a knot? — has a complicated answer.
Does Form Really Shape Function?
From brain folds to insect architecture, L. Mahadevan explains how complex biological forms and behaviors emerge through the interplay of physical forces, environment and embodiment.
First Map Made of a Solid’s Secret Quantum Geometry
Physicists recently mapped the hidden shape that underlies the quantum behaviors of a crystal, using a new method that’s expected to become ubiquitous.
Dimension 126 Contains Strangely Twisted Shapes, Mathematicians Prove
A new proof represents the culmination of a 65-year-old story about anomalous shapes in special dimensions.
A New Proof Smooths Out the Math of Melting
A powerful mathematical technique is used to model melting ice and other phenomena. But it has long been imperiled by certain “nightmare scenarios.” A new proof has removed that obstacle.