Articles

What computers can't doMike Yates looks at the life and work of wartime code-breaker Alan Turing. Find out what types of numbers we can't count and why there are limits on what can be achieved with Turing machines.

Light's identity crisisWhat is light? Sometimes it seems wave-like and sometimes particle like. See how Einstein applied his theory of relativity to the problem, predicted that photons have no mass and laid the foundations for quantum mechanics.

Quantum uncertaintyQuantum mechanics is the physics of the extremely small. With something so far outside our everyday experience it's not surprising to find mathematics at the heart of it all. But at the quantum scale nothing in life is certain... Peter Landshoff explains.

Mathematical mysteries: Goldbach revisited

Since we first wrote about the Goldbach Conjecture we've had many requests for more information about it and about how our Goldbach calculator works. We answer some of your questions here but the Goldbach conjecture touches on a strange area of maths that may leave you even more curious than before...

What a coincidence!Coincidences are familiar to us all but what are the so-called laws of chance? From coin tossing to freak weather events, Geoffrey Grimmett explains how probability is at the heart of it all.

Editorial

What's in a name?
Disaster

Mathematical mysteries: twin primes

We know there is infinitely many primes, but are there infinitely many twin primes?

Image analysis - a modern application of mathematicsNew technology has provided us with some amazing images - satellite images, medical images, even images beamed back from Mars. Julian Stander tells us about the increasing role of statistics in interpreting them.

Designing loudspeakersIn his second article, David Henwood explains the role of mathematics in the design of Hi-Fi loudspeakers.

Natural frequencies and musicIn the first of two articles, David Henwood discusses the vibrations that can be harnessed by musical instrument makers.

Mathematics, marriage and finding somewhere to eatHow do you choose a partner? Is it an irrational choice or is it made rationally, based on a mathematical model which analyses the best potential partner you are likely to meet?

Dynamic programming: an introductionThe previous feature, "Mathematics, marriage and finding somewhere to eat" investigated the problem of finding the best potential partner from a fixed number of potential partners using a technique known as "optimal stopping". Inevitably, mathematicians and mathematical psychologists have constructed other models of the problem...