Content about “

group theory

”

What is group theory and why is it such an exciting area of maths? Two experts explain.

A journey into the maths of card shuffling gives us a great insight into how mathematicians work.

Henry Wilton has won a Whitehead Prize for work that combines geometry and algebra.

We speak to Cheryl Praeger about her mathematics and encouraging the next generation of mathematicians.

Mathematicians are busy tidying up the largest proof in history.

An impossible equation, two tragic heroes and the mathematical study of symmetry.

In 1982 Dan Shechtman discovered a crystal that would revolutionise chemistry. He has just been awarded the 2011 Nobel Prize in Chemistry for his discovery — but has the Nobel committee missed out a chance to honour a mathematician for his role in this revolution as well?

The Rolf Schock Prize in Mathematics 2011 has this week been awarded to Michael Aschbacher "for his fundamental contributions to one of the largest mathematical projects ever, the classification of finite simple groups".

Results in mathematics come in several flavours — theorems are the big important results, conjectures will be important results one day when they are proved, and lemmas are small results that are just stepping stones on the way to the big stuff. Right? Then why has the Fields medal just been awarded to Ngô Bào Châu for his proof of a lemma?

E8 symmetry discovered in lab for the first time