Erica Klarreich

Contributing Correspondent

Latest Articles

What Is the Geometry of the Universe?

March 16, 2020

In our mind’s eye, the universe seems to go on forever. But using geometry we can explore a variety of three-dimensional shapes that offer alternatives to “ordinary” infinite space.

Decades-Old Computer Science Conjecture Solved in Two Pages

July 25, 2019

The “sensitivity” conjecture stumped many top computer scientists, yet the new proof is so simple that one researcher summed it up in a single tweet.

A 53-Year-Old Network Coloring Conjecture Is Disproved

June 17, 2019

In just three pages, a Russian mathematician has presented a better way to color certain types of networks than many experts thought possible.

Out of a Magic Math Function, One Solution to Rule Them All

May 13, 2019

Mathematicians used “magic functions” to prove that two highly symmetric lattices solve a myriad of problems in eight- and 24-dimensional space.

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

March 19, 2019

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.

Math Duo Maps the Infinite Terrain of Minimal Surfaces

March 12, 2019

A pair of mathematicians has built on an obscure, 30-year-old mathematical theory to show that soap-filmlike minimal surfaces appear abundantly in a wide range of shapes.

Q&A

A Collector of Math and Physics Surprises

November 27, 2018

Tadashi Tokieda discovers new physical phenomena by looking at the everyday world with the eyes of a child.

Mystery Math Whiz and Novelist Advance Permutation Problem

November 5, 2018

A new proof from the Australian science fiction writer Greg Egan and a 2011 proof anonymously posted online are now being hailed as significant advances on a puzzle mathematicians have been studying for at least 25 years.

Graduate Student Solves Quantum Verification Problem

October 8, 2018

Urmila Mahadev spent eight years in graduate school solving one of the most basic questions in quantum computation: How do you know whether a quantum computer has done anything quantum at all?

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