Articles

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    Light's identity crisis

    What 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.
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    What computers can't do

    Mike 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.

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    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.
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    Natural frequencies and music

    In the first of two articles, David Henwood discusses the vibrations that can be harnessed by musical instrument makers.
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    Designing loudspeakers

    In his second article, David Henwood explains the role of mathematics in the design of Hi-Fi loudspeakers.
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    Image analysis - a modern application of mathematics

    New 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.
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    Editorial

    • The Dearing report
    • Network capacity problem
    • References
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    Mathematical mysteries: Kepler's conjecture

    Sir Walter Raleigh is perhaps best known for laying down his cloak in the mud for Queen Elizabeth I. But, he also started a mathematical quest which to this day remains unsolved.

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    Coding theory: the first 50 years

    Space probes, like NASA's recent Pathfinder mission to Mars, have radio transmitters of only a few watts, but have to transmit pictures and scientific data across hundreds of millions of miles without the information being completely swamped by noise. Read about how coding theory helps.
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    Decoding a war time diary

    An account of how a prisoner of war's diary was recently decoded. Donald Hill wrote his diary in a numerical code, disguised as a set of mathematical tables, while in Hong Kong during and after the Japanese invasion of 1941.