The original version of this story appeared in Quanta Magazine. All of modern mathematics is built on the foundation of set theory, the study of how to organize abstract collections of objects. But in ...

For four decades, a quiet boundary in pure mathematics kept a powerful theorem locked inside the safe world of finite quantities. Now a new result known as Sebestyen’s theorem has pushed that boundary ...

For centuries, the concept of infinity has captivated mathematicians and philosophers alike, stretching far beyond the simple idea of endless counting. Recent groundbreaking discoveries, however, have ...

At the University of Vaasa in Finland, mathematician Yosra Barkaoui has successfully generalized a fundamental theorem that had remained confined to “bounded” systems for more than 40 years.

Although it has ancient roots, the meaning of infinity remains baffling, and it seems to have absolutely no bearing on everyday life. The mathematics of infinity is complex, but it isn’t simply a very ...

It’s a complaint many algebra teachers are familiar with, as more letters and symbols are introduced with progressively harder courses in mathematics. But why did the plus symbol emerge as the ...

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