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Mathematics

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Cryptography’s Future Will Be Quantum-Safe. Here’s How It Will Work.

November 9, 2022

Lattice cryptography promises to protect secrets from the attacks of far-future quantum computers.

Q&A

A Mathematician Who Fled to Freedom but Still Stares Down Doubts

November 1, 2022

Svetlana Jitomirskaya was born in Ukraine, but left the Soviet Union to escape sexism and antisemitism. Even though her work in mathematical physics has now been honored with one of the field’s top prizes, she finds herself still fighting old battles.

Why Mathematicians Study Knots

October 31, 2022

Far from being an abstract mathematical curiosity, knot theory has driven many findings in math and beyond.

How to Win at Wordle (Without Cheating)

October 25, 2022

Solve these puzzle questions to level up your Wordle game.

Mathematicians Discover the Fibonacci Numbers Hiding in Strange Spaces

October 17, 2022

Recent explorations of unique geometric worlds reveal perplexing patterns, including the Fibonacci sequence and the golden ratio.

Teenager Solves Stubborn Riddle About Prime Number Look-Alikes

October 13, 2022

In his senior year of high school, Daniel Larsen proved a key theorem about Carmichael numbers — strange entities that mimic the primes.

‘Monumental’ Math Proof Solves Triple Bubble Problem and More

October 6, 2022

The decades-old Sullivan’s conjecture, about the best way to minimize the surface area of a bubble cluster, was thought to be out of reach for three bubbles and up — until a new breakthrough result.

How Star Trek’s Lieutenant Uhura Overcame Astronomical Odds

September 30, 2022

Readers rescued a Star Trek crew from a probabilistic predicament armed only with the power of mathematical reasoning.

How Big Is Infinity?

September 27, 2022

Of all the endless questions children and mathematicians have asked about infinity, one of the biggest has to do with its size.

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