Mathematics

The “packing coloring” problem asks how many numbers are needed to fill an infinite grid so that identical numbers never get too close to one another. A new computer-assisted proof finds a surprisingly straightforward answer.

All infinities go on forever, so how is it possible for some infinities to be larger than others? The mathematician Justin Moore discusses the mysteries of infinity with Steven Strogatz.

So-called “higher symmetries” are illuminating everything from particle decays to the behavior of complex quantum systems.

In 50 years of searching, mathematicians found only one example of a “subspace design” in a vector space. A new proof reveals that there are infinitely more out there.

The surprisingly simple tile is the first single, connected tile that can fill the entire plane in a pattern that never repeats — and can’t be made to fill it in a repeating way.

The four-color problem is simple to explain, but its complex proof continues to be both celebrated and despised.

The prize-winning geometer feels most fulfilled when exploring the fertile ground where constraint meets creation.

Learn why the quadratic formula works and why quadratics are easier to solve than cubics.

Can mathematics handle things that are essentially the same without being exactly equal? Category theorist Eugenia Cheng and host Steven Strogatz discuss the power and pleasures of abstraction.