What's up in

Mathematics

Latest Articles

How Big Data Carried Graph Theory Into New Dimensions

August 19, 2021

Researchers are turning to the mathematics of higher-order interactions to better model the complex connections within their data.

Turing Patterns Turn Up in a Tiny Crystal

August 10, 2021

The mechanism behind leopard spots and zebra stripes also appears to explain the patterned growth of a bismuth crystal, extending Alan Turing’s 1952 idea to the atomic scale.

Animals Count and Use Zero. How Far Does Their Number Sense Go?

August 9, 2021

Crows recently demonstrated an understanding of the concept of zero. It’s only the latest evidence of animals’ talents for numerical abstraction — which may still differ from our own grasp of numbers.

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.

A Video Tour of the Standard Model

July 16, 2021

The Standard Model is a sweeping equation that has correctly predicted the results of virtually every experiment ever conducted, as Quanta explores in a new video.

Get highlights of the most important news delivered to your email inbox