We care about your data, and we'd like to use cookies to give you a smooth browsing experience. Please agree and read more about our privacy policy.
Quanta Homepage
  • Physics
  • Mathematics
  • Biology
  • Computer Science
  • Topics
  • Archive

What's up in

topology

Latest Articles

2020 in Review

The Year in Math and Computer Science

By Bill Andrews
December 23, 2020
Comment
Read Later

Even as mathematicians and computer scientists proved big results in computational complexity, number theory and geometry, computers proved themselves increasingly indispensable in mathematics.

Harvard professor L. Mahadevan stands in a slightly cluttered office, holding an apple and a jar containing a miniature brain
Q&A

A Scientist Who Delights in the Mundane

By Steve Nadis
October 26, 2020
Comment
Read Later

From crumpled paper to termite mounds to three-sided coins, L. Mahadevan has turned the whole world into his laboratory.

Illustration of researchers building and writing a digital library, which helps a humanoid robot do advanced math
foundations of mathematics

Building the Mathematical Library of the Future

By Kevin Hartnett
October 1, 2020
Comment
Read Later

A small community of mathematicians is using a software program called Lean to build a new digital repository. They hope it represents the future of their field.

An abstract illustration showing broken tools, cubes, numbers and other abstract representations of impossible math
Quantized Columns

When Math Gets Impossibly Hard

By David S. Richeson
September 14, 2020
Comment
Read Later

Mathematicians have long grappled with the reality that some problems just don’t have solutions.

Q&A

Conducting the Mathematical Orchestra From the Middle

By Rachel Crowell
September 2, 2020
Comment
Read Later

Emily Riehl is rewriting the foundations of higher category theory while also working to make mathematics more inclusive.

Abstractions blog

How Physics Found a Geometric Structure for Math to Play With

By Kevin Hartnett
July 29, 2020
Comment
Read Later

Symplectic geometry is a relatively new field with implications for much of modern mathematics. Here’s what it’s all about.

Animation of different rectangles made by connecting four points on a colorful loop.
geometry

New Geometric Perspective Cracks Old Problem About Rectangles

By Kevin Hartnett
June 25, 2020
Comment
Read Later

While locked down due to COVID-19, Joshua Greene and Andrew Lobb figured out how to prove a version of the “rectangular peg problem.”

An illustration of a knot that mathematicians might study using tools called invariants.
Abstractions blog

In a Single Measure, Invariants Capture the Essence of Math Objects

By Erica Klarreich
June 2, 2020
Comment
Read Later

To distinguish between fundamentally different objects, mathematicians turn to invariants that encode the objects’ essential features.

knot theory

Graduate Student Solves Decades-Old Conway Knot Problem

By Erica Klarreich
May 19, 2020
Comment
Read Later

It took Lisa Piccirillo less than a week to answer a long-standing question about a strange knot discovered over half a century ago by the legendary John Conway.


Previous
  • 1
  • 2
  • 3
  • 4
  • 5
  • 6
  • 7
  • ...
  • 8
Next
The Quanta Newsletter

Get highlights of the most important news delivered to your email inbox

Recent newsletters
Quanta Homepage
Facebook
Twitter
Youtube
Instagram

  • About Quanta
  • Archive
  • Contact Us
  • Terms & Conditions
  • Privacy Policy
  • Simons Foundation
All Rights Reserved © 2023