Breakthroughs in physics sometimes require an assist from the field of mathematics—and vice versa. In 1912, Albert Einstein, then a 33-year-old theoretical physicist at the Eidgenössische Technische ...

In the Fall I'll be starting teaching again, after a semester away on sabbatical and then enjoying teaching relief during my first semester at Penn. I'll be teaching a course that I truly love, and ...

Forbes contributors publish independent expert analyses and insights. The Universe is out there, waiting for you to discover it. When it comes to describing the physical world, we can do it ...

A classic math rule now handles infinity. New work strengthens the math behind physics and unbounded systems. % ...

Symplectic geometry is a relatively new field with implications for much of modern mathematics. Here’s what it’s all about. In the early 1800s, William Rowan Hamilton discovered a new kind of ...

Over the past century, quantum field theory has proved to be the single most sweeping and successful physical theory ever invented. It is an umbrella term that encompasses many specific quantum field ...

It has long been a mystery why pure math can reveal so much about the nature of the physical world. Antimatter was discovered in Paul Dirac’s equations before being detected in cosmic rays. Quarks ...

You will never be able to prove every mathematical truth. For me, this incompleteness theorem, discovered by Kurt Gödel, is one of the most incredible results in mathematics. It may not surprise ...

Mathematics is full of weird number systems that most people have never heard of and would have trouble even conceptualizing. But rational numbers are familiar. They’re the counting numbers and the ...

Forbes contributors publish independent expert analyses and insights. I write about physics, science, academia, and pop culture. An article on the Chronicle of Higher Education crossed my social media ...

The ability of a gene to keep functioning despite mutations shows a surprising link to fundamental math. When you purchase through links on our site, we may earn an affiliate commission. Here’s how it ...