Jeremy Hahn

Tomer Schlank

In this podcast we revisit some news that shook the world of topology last year. Four mathematicians, all in earlier stages of their career, resolved the long-standing telescope conjecture which explores holes in spheres – of any dimension!

The result was announced in the summer of 2023 at a conference organised by Isaac Newton Institute for Mathematical Sciences in Cambridge (INI).

We talk to two of these mathematicians, Tomer Schlank and Jeremy Hahn, to get a gist of this high-powered result in pure mathematics, which is nevertheless wonderfully intuitive. So fasten your seatbelt and join us on a trip into the wonderful world of homotopy theory!

To read an article exploring the telescope conjecture and for some background reading, see here.

Return to the advent calendar 2024!

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This content was produced as part of our collaboration with the Isaac Newton Institute for Mathematical Sciences (INI). The INI is an international research centre in Cambridge which attracts leading mathematicians from all over the world. You can find all the content from the collaboration here.