Tag: mathematicians
Mathematicians Solve Multidimensional Shape-Slicing Dilemma
Mathematicians Solve Multidimensional Fruit-Slicing Dilemma A 40-year-old conjecture on shapes’ cross sections is finally proven By Max Springer edited by Sarah Lewin Frasier Join Our Community of Science Lovers! In 1986 Belgian mathematician Jean Bourgain posed a seemingly simple question that continued to puzzle researchers for decades. No matter how you deform a convex shape—consider…
Inside the Secret Meeting Where Mathematicians Struggled to Outsmart AI
At Secret Math Meeting, Researchers Struggle to Outsmart AI The world’s leading mathematicians were stunned by how adept artificial intelligence is at doing their jobs By Lyndie Chiou edited by Clara Moskowitz On a weekend in mid-May, a clandestine mathematical conclave convened. Thirty of the world’s most renowned mathematicians traveled to Berkeley, Calif., with some…
Pedestrian Traffic Turns to Chaos at a Critical Angle, Mathematicians Find
‘Chaos’ Angle Explains Why Pedestrian Traffic Snarls to a Stop In general, crowds like to form lanes to get across—until too many people go in too many different directions By Gayoung Lee edited by Allison Parshall Join Our Community of Science Lovers! Humans walking in crowds tend to form orderly lanes. It’s something we do…
Mathematicians Solve Infamous ‘Moving Sofa Problem’
Opinion Mathematicians Solve Infamous ‘Moving Sofa Problem’ What’s the largest couch that can turn a corner? After 58 years, we finally know By Jack Murtagh edited by Jeanna Bryner For those who have wrestled a bulky couch around a tight corner and lamented, “Will this even fit?” mathematicians have heard your pleas. Geometry’s “moving sofa…
Mysterious Constant That Makes Mathematicians Despair
Mysterious Constant That Makes Mathematicians Despair The proof that the Apéry constant is irrational remains one of the most bizarre events in the history of mathematics By Manon Bischoff edited by Daisy Yuhas Mathematicians attended Roger Apéry’s lecture at a French National Center for Scientific Research conference in June 1978 with a great deal of…