All Stories by Ivars Peterson
- Math
A fair deal for housemates
A new mathematical recipe for fair division allows people to resolve disputes over the splitting up of rent, goods, or even burdensome chores.
- Math
Packing spheres around a sphere
A mathematician has proved that the optimal arrangement of 12 identical spheres around and touching a 13th is a highly symmetric pattern based on the 12-faced geometric shape known as the dodecahedron.
- Math
Trailing after double bubbles
A proof of the double-bubble conjecture for the case in which the two bubbles' volumes are unequal appears within reach.
- Math
Unveiling the work of Archimedes
An ancient manuscript long hidden from public view may provide significant insights into the way Archimedes did his mathematical work more than 2,000 years ago.
- Math
Losing to win
Two games of chance, each guaranteed to give a player a predominance of losses in the long term, can add up to a winning outcome if the player alternates between the two games.
- Math
Squares, primes, and proofs
Mathematicians have proved the so-called local Langlands correspondence, a broad generalization of a surprising connection between prime numbers and perfect squares.
- Physics
Electrical superball pulls itself together
A strong electric field can drive tiny particles of a superconductor to bind themselves together into a remarkably sturdy ball.
- Humans
An Artist’s Timely Riddles
A team of researchers demonstrates that there may be much more to the art of Marcel Duchamp than meets the casual, or even critical, eye.
-
