List by Author: Rachel Thomas

The shape of things to come: part i

This year's Nobel Prize for Physics brings together the physics of materials with one of our favourite areas of maths – topology.

What is a block universe?

Has the future already already been written? Is time just an illusion? Take a step outside of spacetime with cosmologist Marina Cortês to discover the block universe.

Time in a block universe

Fundamental physics says time is symmetric - so why does time move forwards for us in a block universe?

Why not block time?Is time real? Are we just puppets living out a future already written? Marina Cortês explains why she thinks time is fundamental and that we don't live in a block universe.
The future is timeMarina Cortês is one of a growing number of physicists who believe time is fundamental. We ask her about the alternatives theories to the block universe, where time comes first.
Maths in a minute: Bayes' theorem

It would be foolish to ignore evidence. Luckily Bayes' theorem shows us how to take it in into account.

It from bit?

Does reality arise from information? What does this even mean? Anton Zeilinger explains the impact of John Wheeler's radical idea.

Maths in a minute: Continued fractions

Continued fractions reveal the good, the bad and the beautiful side of numbers.

Kissing the curve – manifolds in many dimensions

Following on from our previous article about curvature of lines and surfaces, we now move up to curvature of their higher dimensional equivalent – manifolds.

How does your garden grow?

The division of plant cells is governed by their shape – just one example of how maths may reveal the fundamental laws underlying biology.

Monsters, moonshine and shadows

Not just the ingredients for a fairy tale...