Tag Archives: Math

Gauge Theory and Low-Dimensional Topology (Part I: Historical Context)

Hi! This month, I thought I would start a brief series of articles describing the uses of gauge theory in mathematics. Rather than discuss current research directions in gauge theory (of which there are many), I hope to give an … Continue reading

Posted in Math, Topology | Tagged , | 1 Comment

The “Idea” of a Scheme

The mathematical concept of a “scheme” seems to pop up everywhere, but it’s hard to get a good grasp on what a scheme actually is. Any time you might ask someone what a scheme is in passing, there never seems … Continue reading

Posted in Algebraic Geometry, Math | Tagged , | 1 Comment

What is a Manifold? (6/6)

In posts 1-3 we were able to reduce all of the geometry of a curve in 3-space to an interval along with two or three real-valued functions. We also discussed when two sets of such data give equivalent (overlapping) curves. This … Continue reading

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What is a Manifold? (5/6)

In our last post, we invented a new geometry by re-scaling the inner product of the usual Euclidean plane. This modification did not change any of the angles in our geometry, in the sense that if two curves intersected in a particular Euclidean … Continue reading

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Mathematical Democracy: Mission Impossible? Maybe not…

In 1950, a 29-year-old PhD candidate at Columbia published a stunning theorem that later won him a Nobel Prize: “There is no such thing as a fair voting system.”  Or so the legend goes.  Let’s dive into this claim and … Continue reading

Posted in Math, Math in Pop Culture, Mathematics in Society, Social Justice, Uncategorized, Voting Theory | Tagged , , , , | 4 Comments