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Archive for the ‘mathematics’ category: Page 29

Jan 22, 2022

243-Year-Old Impossible Puzzle Solved Using Quantum Entanglement

Posted by in categories: computing, mathematics, quantum physics

Over 240 years ago, famous mathematician Leonhard Euler came up with a question: if six army regiments each have six officers of six different ranks, can they be arranged in a square formation such that no row or column repeats either a rank or regiment?

After searching in vain for a solution, Euler declared the problem impossible – and over a century later, the French mathematician Gaston Tarry proved him right. Then, 60 years after that, when the advent of computers removed the need for laboriously testing every possible combination by hand, the mathematicians Parker, Bose, and Shrikhande proved an even stronger result: not only is the six-by-six square impossible, but it’s the only size of square other than two-by-two that doesn’t have a solution at all.

Jan 20, 2022

Humans Didn’t Invent Mathematics, It’s What the World Is Made Of

Posted by in categories: mathematics, physics

Many people think that mathematics is a human invention. To this way of thinking, mathematics is like a language: it may describe real things in the world, but it doesn’t “exist” outside the minds of the people who use it.

But the Pythagorean school of thought in ancient Greece held a different view. Its proponents believed reality is fundamentally mathematical. More than 2,000 years later, philosophers and physicists are starting to take this idea seriously.

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Jan 19, 2022

Mars city: Elon Musk warns a major Earth problem could stop it happening

Posted by in categories: Elon Musk, mathematics, space

Musk is sounding a familiar alarm. But the math might not add up.


SpaceX CEO Elon Musk is sounding the alarm, as data sparks concern over global population figures.

Jan 19, 2022

Scientists Discover How To Halt and Control Cellular Death Process — Previously Thought To Be Irreversible

Posted by in category: mathematics

Numbers like π, e and φ often turn up in unexpected places in science and mathematics. Pascal’s triangle and the Fibonacci sequence also seem inexplicably widespread in nature. Then there’s the Riemann zeta function, a deceptively straightforward function that has perplexed mathematicians since the 19th century. The most famous quandary, the Riemann hypothesis, is perhaps the greatest unsolved question in mathematics, with the Clay Mathematics Institute offering a $1 million prize for a correct proof.

Jan 19, 2022

Quantum zeta epiphany: Physicist finds a new approach to a $1 million mathematical enigma

Posted by in categories: mathematics, quantum physics

Numbers like π, e and φ often turn up in unexpected places in science and mathematics. Pascal’s triangle and the Fibonacci sequence also seem inexplicably widespread in nature. Then there’s the Riemann zeta function, a deceptively straightforward function that has perplexed mathematicians since the 19th century. The most famous quandary, the Riemann hypothesis, is perhaps the greatest unsolved question in mathematics, with the Clay Mathematics Institute offering a $1 million prize for a correct proof.

UC Santa Barbara physicist Grant Remmen believes he has a new approach for exploring the quirks of the function. He has found an analog that translates many of the function’s important properties into . This means that researchers can now leverage the tools from this field of physics to investigate the enigmatic and oddly ubiquitous zeta function. His work could even lead to a proof of the Riemann hypothesis. Remmen lays out his approach in the journalPhysical Review Letters.

“The Riemann zeta function is this famous and mysterious mathematical function that comes up in number theory all over the place,” said Remmen, a postdoctoral scholar at UCSB’s Kavli Institute for Theoretical Physics. “It’s been studied for over 150 years.”

Jan 17, 2022

These Were Our Favorite Tech Stories From Around the Web in 2021

Posted by in categories: bioengineering, biotech/medical, blockchains, chemistry, cryptocurrencies, internet, mathematics, robotics/AI

Tech companies continued to draw criticism for their roles in political and social scandals, most notably when whisteblower and former Facebook employee Frances Haugen testified to lawmakers. Undeterred, Facebook rebranded itself Meta and said it would now focus on building the metaverse. Twitter CEO Jack Dorsey stepped down and likewise changed the name of his company Square to Block in a not-so-subtle nod to the blockchain.

Meanwhile, volatile cryptocurrencies set new records, their prices jumping and crashing on a tweet. NFTs, a once-obscure type of cryptoasset, went on an eye-watering tear as redditors pushed meme stocks skyward. It was also the year of ever-bigger AI. Machine learning models surpassed a trillion parameters, designed computer chips, and tackled practical problems in biology, math, and chemistry. Elsewhere, billionaires went to space, regular folks bought 3D printed houses, fusion power attracted billions in investment, gene editing trials hit their stride, and “flying car” companies hit the New York Stock Exchange.

For this year’s list of fascinating stories in tech and science, we sifted our Saturday posts and selected articles that looked back to where it all began, glanced ahead to what’s coming, or otherwise stood out from the chatter to stand the test of time.

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Jan 17, 2022

There’s a Hidden Mathematical ‘Law’ in The Sand Megaripples Found All Over Earth

Posted by in categories: law, mathematics, space

Universal law always works perfectly well.


Wherever there is sand and an atmosphere, prevailing winds may whip the grains into undulating shapes, pleasing to the eye with their calming repetition.

Certain sand waves, with wavelengths between 30 centimeters (almost 12 inches) and several meters (around 30 feet), are known as megaripples: they’re between ordinary beach ripples and full dunes in size, and we’ve seen them not just on Earth, but even on other planets such as Mars, well known for its all-encompassing dust storms.

Continue reading “There’s a Hidden Mathematical ‘Law’ in The Sand Megaripples Found All Over Earth” »

Jan 14, 2022

Mathematicians Clear Hurdle in Quest to Decode Primes

Posted by in category: mathematics

Paul Nelson has solved the subconvexity problem, bringing mathematicians one step closer to understanding the Riemann hypothesis and the distribution of prime numbers.

Jan 11, 2022

Researcher develops new tool for understanding hard computational problems that appear intractable

Posted by in categories: computing, information science, mathematics

The notion that some computational problems in math and computer science can be hard should come as no surprise. There is, in fact, an entire class of problems deemed impossible to solve algorithmically. Just below this class lie slightly “easier” problems that are less well-understood—and may be impossible, too.

David Gamarnik, professor of operations research at the MIT Sloan School of Management and the Institute for Data, Systems, and Society, is focusing his attention on the latter, less-studied category of problems, which are more relevant to the everyday world because they involve —an integral feature of natural systems. He and his colleagues have developed a potent tool for analyzing these problems called the overlap gap property (or OGP). Gamarnik described the new methodology in a recent paper in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.

Jan 8, 2022

Mathematicians Transcend Geometric Theory of Motion

Posted by in category: mathematics

More than 30 years ago, Andreas Floer changed geometry. Now, two mathematicians have finally figured out how to extend his revolutionary perspective.

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