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Mathematics

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Mathematicians Solve Decades-Old Classification Problem

August 5, 2021

A pair of researchers has shown that trying to classify groups of numbers called “torsion-free abelian groups” is as hard as it can possibly be.

Galois Groups and the Symmetries of Polynomials

August 3, 2021

By focusing on relationships between solutions to polynomial equations, rather than the exact solutions themselves, Évariste Galois changed the course of modern mathematics.

Proof Assistant Makes Jump to Big-League Math

July 28, 2021

Mathematicians using the computer program Lean have verified the accuracy of a difficult theorem at the cutting edge of research mathematics.

How to Find Rational Points Like Your Job Depends on It

July 22, 2021

Using high school algebra and geometry, and knowing just one rational point on a circle or elliptic curve, we can locate infinitely many others.

New Shape Opens ‘Wormhole’ Between Numbers and Geometry

July 19, 2021

Laurent Fargues and Peter Scholze have found a new, more powerful way of connecting number theory and geometry as part of the sweeping Langlands program.

How Many Numbers Exist? Infinity Proof Moves Math Closer to an Answer.

July 15, 2021

For 50 years, mathematicians have believed that the total number of real numbers is unknowable. A new proof suggests otherwise.

Mathematicians Prove Symmetry of Phase Transitions

July 8, 2021

A group of mathematicians has shown that at critical moments, a symmetry called rotational invariance is a universal property across many physical systems.

Can Math Help You Escape a Hungry Bear?

June 29, 2021

In this month’s puzzle, math is a question of life or death.

Nathan Seiberg on How Math Might Complete the Ultimate Physics Theory

June 24, 2021

Even in an incomplete state, quantum field theory is the most successful physical theory ever discovered. Nathan Seiberg, one of its leading architects, talks about the gaps in QFT and how mathematicians could fill them.

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