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Mathematical Connect-the-Dots Reveals How Structure Emerges
A new proof identifies precisely how large a mathematical graph must be before it contains a regular substructure.
Surfaces So Different Even a Fourth Dimension Can’t Make Them the Same
For decades mathematicians have searched for a specific pair of surfaces that can’t be transformed into each other in four-dimensional space. Now they’ve found them.
Graduate Student’s Side Project Proves Prime Number Conjecture
Jared Duker Lichtman, 26, has proved a longstanding conjecture relating prime numbers to a broad class of “primitive” sets. To his adviser, it came as a “complete shock.”
Surfaces Beyond Imagination Are Discovered After Decades-Long Search
Using ideas borrowed from graph theory, two mathematicians have shown that extremely complex surfaces are easy to traverse.
What Is the Langlands Program?
The Langlands program provides a beautifully intricate set of connections between various areas of mathematics, pointing the way toward novel solutions for old problems.
The Secret Math Behind Mind-Reading Magic Tricks
Four puzzle solutions reveal different ways to divine someone’s hidden number with impossibly little information.
Why Claude Shannon Would Have Been Great at Wordle
A bit of information theory can help you analyze — and improve — your Wordle game.
How Complex Is a Knot? New Proof Reveals Ranking System That Works.
“Ribbon concordance” will let mathematicians compare knots by linking them across four-dimensional space.
Think of a Number. How Do Math Magicians Know What It Is?
Mathematical magic can seem like mind reading. Your job is to reveal the secret behind these four tricks.