Moonshine

The legendary mathematician, who died on April 11, was curious, colorful and one of the greatest problem-solvers of his generation.

A type of symmetry so unusual that it was called a “pariah” turns out to have deep connections to number theory.

To begin to understand what mathematicians and physicists see in the abstract structures of symmetries, let’s start with a familiar shape.

The physicist-mathematician Miranda Cheng is working to harness a mysterious connection between string theory, algebra and number theory.

Researchers are on the trail of a mysterious connection between number theory, algebra and string theory.