Number theory – The Conversation

Srinivasa Ramanujan was one of the most brilliant mathematicians of the 20th century. His story is told in the movie The Man Who Knew Infinity, screening tonight in selected cinemas in Australia.

Christopher Havens came upon his love of math while in solitary confinement. A decade later, he published a paper on number theory in a top mathematics journal.

A couple of days ago on The Conversation, I set myself up with a task: to defend the usefulness of so-called “useless” maths. Today, that defence continues, with a look at the RSA algorithm. I finished…

I once made the mistake of asking a mathematician why he devoted his whole life to maths. “Because it’s fun!” he replied wildly, his flabby cheeks beaming with childlike excitement. “Ah, of course,” I…

I was in second year at the University of Western Australia when Akshay Venkatesh skipped first year maths and jumped straight into my classes. He was 13 at the time. Now he’s won a prestigious award.

In recent weeks, two truly major results have been announced in the realm of (analytic) number theory, namely the mathematics of integers in general and of prime numbers in particular. Number theory, as…

A new largest known prime number was found last month by an amateur mathematician, continuing a millennia-long quest to understand hidden patterns in the infinite tapestry of numbers.

If you know a bit about how numbers are made then you don’t need to work out all 144 calculations in a 12 by 12 times table.

Hungarian mathematician Paul Erdős’ ‘planar unit distance conjecture’ has stood since 1946 – but an AI disproof has made mathematicians pay attention.