Category: mathematics

  • New Mathematical Proof of the ABC Conjecture

    A new claim could imply that a proof of one of the most important conjectures in number theory has been solved, which would be an astounding achievement. Mathematician Shinichi Mochizuki of Kyoto University in Japan has released a 500-page proof of the abc conjecture that proposes a relationship between whole numbers (related to the Diophantine…

  • Century-Old Goldbach Weak Conjecture Closer to Being Solved

    The weak Golbach conjecture states that you can break up any odd number into the sum of, at most, three prime numbers. Prime numbers cannot be evenly divided by any other number than themselves or 1. Read more @ SciTechDaily

  • Probabilities of Collecting All Pennies from 1959 to 1997 are Easily Feasible

    Many coin collectors start their numismatic collections with pennies, and trying to get pennies from every year within a given range. This process, while seemingly daunting, is straightforward and will take about 684 pennies to find all of the pennies from 1959 to 1997, since they are still in circulation. Read more @ SciTechDaily

  • The Algorithmic Approach to the Mathematics of Cramming

    Students tend to take far from optimal ways to assimilate information, especially when it comes to exams. Scientists Tim Novikoff, Jon Kleinbert, and Steve Strogatz decided to take a mathematical approach to the way that students learn, in order to find the most effective way to succeed. Read more @ SciTechDaily

  • The Fractal Dimension of the US ZIP Code System: 1.78!

    While most people think that ZIP codes were originally created randomly, there is actually an order to the US mail system. Since it turns out that it has a branching structure, it implies that it has a fractal dimension. Samuel Arbesman of Wired’s Social Dimension used the ZIPScribbles images created by Robert Kosara to calculate…

  • Mathematician Claims Breakthrough in the Sudoku Problem

    While you might just need a pencil and your brain to fill in this week’s Sudoku puzzle, an Irish mathematician used millions of hours of supercomputing time in order to solve an important open problem in the mathematics of Sudoku; the game that was initially popularized in Japan and involves filling up a 9×9 grid…

  • First Week of the Fall Term 2011 – Mathematics Graduate School

    It’s the second week of school, but with a bank holiday last Monday (09/12/11), graduate school started up slowly. It will take until next week until everyone is finally registered to all of their classes. It took me a while to do so as well, because they changed up the system from a program that…

  • Nick Werle on Asimov and Psychohistory

    I’ve always imagined that pyshohistory might be achievable at some point in time, since I’m a mathematician and a lover of science-fiction. Foundation as always been a favorite of mine and I’ve read it countless times. Nick Werle compares it to macroeconomics of a certain kind.

  • June 13 to 19 2011

    I had some excess photos this week, so I’m posting them here. It was good week, somewhat busy and wet, as usual. Next week is the last week of school, but I’m immediately starting a paid math research project with my advisor, which is kind of cool. We’ll be exploring Sobolev spaces and the elasticity…

  • Graduate Student Lectures: Great Learning Opportunities But You’ll Need Preparation

    One of the main things that graduate students need to cope with in the sciences is giving lectures. For some, they give lectures to undergrads. Others give lectures in their classes. In my case, since I am not fluent in Mandarin, I can’t serve as TA, which is what most of my classmates have to…