In Hilbert space, all things are quantumly possible(quantamagazine.org)
130 points by unprovable | 80 comments
Quanta Magazine explainer on Hilbert space, the abstract mathematical realm used to describe quantum phenomena.
#quanta-magazine on Hacker News
24 stories tagged quanta-magazine, newest first.
Is 'Attention' the Essence of Intelligence?(quantamagazine.org)
58 points by bcaulfield | 52 comments
Quanta Magazine article exploring whether the attention mechanism is central to intelligence in AI and brains.
Surprisingly complex waves reveal the brain's inner workings(quantamagazine.org)
239 points by ibobev | 92 comments
Quanta Magazine article on unexpectedly complex wave patterns traveling across the cortex that may reorganize brain activity in real time.
Biology might not be quantum, but its math is quantumlike(quantamagazine.org)
112 points by pseudolus | 49 comments
Quanta Magazine article arguing that while biology may not rely on quantum effects, the mathematics describing biological systems resembles quantum math.
Aging may be a program, not a breakdown(quantamagazine.org)
33 points by elo2000 | 36 comments
Quanta Magazine Q&A with Junyue Cao on single-cell studies of mouse cells suggesting aging is a programmed remodeling of cell populations rather than random wear.
What is a manifold?(quantamagazine.org)
335 points by isaacfrond | 117 comments
Quanta Magazine explainer on manifolds, the mathematical spaces conceived by Bernhard Riemann that underpin modern geometry and physics.
First convex polyhedron found that can't pass through itself(quantamagazine.org)
514 points by fleahunter | 146 comments
Quanta Magazine article on the discovery of the first convex polyhedron shown not to have Rupert's property, meaning it cannot pass through a hole in itself.
What Is the Fourier Transform?(quantamagazine.org)
406 points by rbanffy | 179 comments
Quanta Magazine explainer on the Fourier transform, its origins with Joseph Fourier in revolutionary France, and how it decomposes functions into component parts.
At 17, Hannah Cairo solved a major math mystery(quantamagazine.org)
437 points by baruchel | 168 comments
Quanta Magazine profile of Hannah Cairo, who at 17 disproved a 40-year-old conjecture in harmonic analysis after joining a Berkeley graduate class.
New sphere-packing record stems from an unexpected source(quantamagazine.org)
414 points by pseudolus | 210 comments
Quanta Magazine article on how a newcomer to sphere packing set a new record, solving a major open problem after just a few months of work.
A new pyramid-like shape always lands the same side up(quantamagazine.org)
629 points by robinhouston | 154 comments
Quanta Magazine article about mathematicians constructing a tetrahedron that is stable on only one face, confirming a decades-old conjecture.
After 20 years, math couple solves major group theory problem(quantamagazine.org)
412 points by isaacfrond | 117 comments
Quanta Magazine article on how Britta Späth and Marc Cabanes proved a central group theory conjecture after 20 years of work.
Undergraduate shows that searches within hash tables can be much faster(quantamagazine.org)
1175 points by Jhsto | 508 comments
Quanta Magazine article on an undergraduate and colleagues showing hash table searches can be faster than a 40-year-old conjecture held possible.
What is entropy? A measure of just how little we know(quantamagazine.org)
339 points by nsoonhui | 146 comments
Quanta Magazine article explaining entropy, 200 years after its introduction, as a measure of ignorance rather than an objective property of the world.
Fish have a brain microbiome – could humans have one too?(quantamagazine.org)
318 points by rbanffy | 122 comments
Quanta Magazine article on the discovery that fish have a brain microbiome and the controversial possibility that humans might too.
Everyone is capable of, and can benefit from, mathematical thinking(quantamagazine.org)
533 points by sonabinu | 303 comments
Quanta Magazine Q&A with mathematician David Bessis arguing that everyone is capable of, and can benefit from, mathematical thinking.
Math is still catching up to the genius of Ramanujan(quantamagazine.org)
782 points by philiplu | 399 comments
Quanta Magazine profile of Srinivasa Ramanujan, the self-taught Indian mathematician whose ideas continue to shape mathematics today.
The vagus nerve orchestrates the mind-body connection(quantamagazine.org)
348 points by jandrewrogers | 151 comments
Quanta Magazine article on how the vagus nerve connects the brain and organs to regulate bodily functions and aspects of mood, pleasure and fear.
The Webb Telescope further deepens the Hubble tension controversy in cosmology(quantamagazine.org)
327 points by nsoonhui | 321 comments
Quanta Magazine article on a long-awaited James Webb Space Telescope study of the cosmic expansion rate that deepens the Hubble tension in cosmology.
Computer scientists invent an efficient new way to count(quantamagazine.org)
924 points by jasondavies | 258 comments
Quanta Magazine article on a simple randomized algorithm for estimating the number of distinct objects in a data stream.
Inside the proton, the ‘most complicated thing you could possibly imagine’(quantamagazine.org)
540 points by MetallicCloud | 456 comments
A Quanta Magazine multimedia feature explaining the proton's internal structure and how its appearance changes depending on how it is probed.
Researchers have found a faster way to do integer linear programming(quantamagazine.org)
443 points by pseudolus | 176 comments
Quanta Magazine article on researchers finding a much faster algorithm for integer linear programming, approaching a theoretical speed limit.
In the gut's 'second brain,' key agents of health emerge(quantamagazine.org)
333 points by yamrzou | 185 comments
Quanta Magazine article on enteric glial cells in the gut's nervous system and their emerging roles in digestion and disease.
JWST spots giant black holes all over the early universe(quantamagazine.org)
322 points by Brajeshwar | 133 comments
Quanta Magazine article on James Webb Space Telescope observations revealing an unexpected abundance of giant black holes in the early universe.