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Aperiodical News Roundup – June/July 2024

Here’s a round-up of some news we didn’t cover on the Aperiodical in the last couple of months.

Research News

In computation news, the fifth Busy Beaver number has been found. This Quanta article gives a good writeup. (via TheHigherGeometer)

In “are we nearly there yet” news, 202 trillion digits of pi have been calculated, breaking the previous record. The computation used the Chudnovsky algorithm (pictured below) and took around 100 days to crunch. (via Robin Houston)

Equation giving 1/pi in terms of an infinite series of fractions (Chudnovsky algorithm)

A new James Maynard paper potentially rules out some exceptions to Riemann Hypothesis, making a big step forward in understanding the structure of the prime numbers.

And finally, the Antikythera mechanism has been theorised to be connected to the lunar rather than the solar calendar, based on (possibly sketchy) gravitational wave research. Dubious!

Awards and announcements

Sarah Hart’s excellent maths/literature book Once Upon a Prime has been awarded the 2024 Euler Book Prize, which is awarded annually to authors of “exceptional mathematics books that significantly impact public perception and understanding of mathematics”.

In case there weren’t enough books about maths and literature (we’re looking at you, Rob Eastaway) the incredible Ben Orlin of Math With Bad Drawings has announced his next book will also touch on the overlap of words and numbers, and will be out on 3rd September.

And earlier this month, Tim Harford gave the inaugural Vicky Neale Public Lecture at Oxford University. The lecture recognises the invaluable contribution to mathematical education of the late Vicky Neale, and Tim spoke about “how data built the modern world – and how we can use it to build a better one”. The lecture can be re-watched on the Oxford Mathematics YouTube Channel.

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