Marianne Freiberger

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Maryam Mirzakhani: counting curves

Maryam Mirzakhani is being honoured for her "rare combination of superb technical ability, bold ambition, far-reaching vision, and deep curiosity".

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What is information?

Books, brains, computers — information comes in many guises. But what exactly is information?

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Problems of gravity

Why (some) physicists want to modify Einstein's general theory of relativity.

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Play to win with Nim

In the game of Nim one player always has a winning strategy — it depends on an unusual way of adding numbers.

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Maths, metronomes and fireflies

It's one of the most beautiful sights in nature: fireflies illuminating the night with their synchronised flashing. Mathematicians have just solved a 40 year-old problem behind this striking phenomenon.

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The power of good questions

Asking good questions is an important part of doing maths. But what makes a good question?

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The art gallery problem

Sometimes a piece of maths can be so neat and elegant, it makes you want to shout "eureka!" even if you haven't produced it yourself. One of our favourite examples is the art gallery problem.

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Playing billiards on doughnuts

The paths of billiard balls on a table can be long and complicated. To understand them mathematicians use a beautiful trick, turning tables into surfaces.

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