Tag Archives: Mathematics

Optimization by Integer Programming

September 24, 2013Article8793 vuesEdit
Integer programming is arguably the greatest achievement of applied mathematics. Half of the time, it's what's used to solve real-world problems!

Imaginary and Complex Numbers

August 29, 2013Article6844 vuesEdit
My first reaction to imaginary numbers was... What the hell is that? Even now, I have trouble getting my head around these mathematical objects. Fortunately, I have a secret weapon: Geometry! This article proposes constructing complex numbers with a very geometrical and intuitive approach, which is probably very different from what you've learned (or will learn).

The Beauty of Ellipses, Parabolas and Hyperbolas

July 22, 2013Article59245 vuesEdit
The conic sections, that is, ellipses, parabolas and hyperbolas, are too often presented analytically. Yet, their amazing beauty is actually their spectacular geometry, as well as their omnipresence! This article presents plenty of illustrative descriptions of their uncountable applications!

The Surprising Flavor of Infinite Series

July 01, 2013Article11397 vuesEdit
1+2+4+8+16+...=-1, as proven by Henry Reich on Minute Physics! Now, as a mathematician, I must say that his proof is far from being rigorous. In fact, anyone familiar with the surprising flavor of infinite series should not find it convincing. Surprisingly though, his proof can be rigorously and naturally justified! Find out how!

Euler’s Formula and the Utilities Problem

June 20, 2013Article18521 vuesEdit
I was a kid when I was first introduced to the deceptively simple utilities problem. It's only lately that I've discovered its solution! And it's an amazing one! Indeed, it provides a wonderful insight into some fundamental mathematics, including Euler's formula! This is nothing less than the gateway to the wonderful world of algebraic topology!

Proof by Mathematical Induction

June 09, 2013Article6674 vuesEdit
This article explores the potency of proofs by induction with 4 different stunning puzzles, from a lock puzzle and a lion issue, to the monk problem and the pencil conundrum!

A Model of Football Games

April 04, 2013Article7795 vuesEdit
Back then, I simulated the outcome of the 2006 World Cup, based on a modelling of football games. This article explains this model and presents its results.

Poincaré Conjecture and Homotopy

March 25, 2013Article8883 vuesEdit
Poincaré conjecture is the most recent major proven theorem. Posited a century ago by Henri Poincaré, this major conjecture of topology was solved by Gregori Perelman. It has revolutionized our understanding of space and raised intriguing questions regarding the global structure of our Universe.

Shannon’s Information Theory

March 17, 2013Article52328 vuesEdit
Claude Shannon may be considered one of the most influential person of the 20th Century, as he laid out the foundation of the revolutionary information theory. Yet, unfortunately, he is virtually unknown to the public. This article is a tribute to him. And the best way I've found is to explain some of the brilliant ideas he had.

Space Deformation and Group Representation

February 22, 2013Article2738 vuesEdit
All along the 20th century, pure algebraists have dug deep into the fundamental structures of mathematics. In this extremely abstract effort, they were greatly help by the possibility of representing these structures by space deformations, which could then be understood much better. This has led to breakthroughs, including the proof of Fermat's las theorem. This article introduces the ideas of group representations.

Topology: from the Basics to Connectedness

December 20, 2012Article8273 vuesEdit
Topology was my favorite course in pure maths. I love it because it's a powerful abstract theory to describe intuitive and visual ideas about space. This article gives you an introduction to this amazing field. We'll introduce graph topology, metric spaces, continuity and connectedness.

Construction and Definition of Numbers

December 07, 2012Article9152 vuesEdit
Although they have been used for thousands of years, an actual definition of numbers was given less than a century ago! From the most fundamental level of set theory, this article takes you to the journey of the construction of natural, integer, rational, real and complex numbers.

Self-Reference, Math Foundations and Gödel’s Incompleteness

November 29, 2012Article6609 vuesEdit
Although highly appreciated by artists, self-reference has been a nightmare for mathematicians. It took one of the greatest, Kurt Gödel, to provide a better understanding of it. This article deals with paradoxes, recursion, fractals and Gödel's incompleteness theorems.

Differential Calculus and the Geometry of Derivatives

November 17, 2012Article8025 vuesEdit
Differential calculus is one of the most important concept of mathematics for science and engineering. This article focuses on its fundamental meaning.

Bayesian Games: Math Models for Poker

November 12, 2012Article8147 vuesEdit
How to better understand Poker and card games in general? Bayesian games provide the right mathematical model just for that! These correspond to games with incomplete information and include probabilistic reasonings.

Symmetries and Group Theory

October 21, 2012Article5272 vuesEdit
Beauty is extremely hard to define. Yet, physicists and artists seem to agree on an important feature of beauty, created by mathematicians: Symmetries. This article aims at introducing the beauty and the concepts on symmetries, from the basic geometrical symmetries to the more abstract fundamental automorphisms.

Fourier Analysis: Signals and Frequencies

October 08, 2012Article13736 vuesEdit
Fourier analysis is a fundamental theory in mathematics with an impressive field of applications. From creating radio to hearing sounds, this concept is a translation between two mathematical worlds: Signals and Frequencies. Here is an introduction to the theory.

Multicriteria with MACBETH

September 29, 2012Article2877 vuesEdit
As more and more complex problems are dealt with in our societies, developing models such as multi-criteria analysis is crucial to better understand these problems. MACBETH is a state-of-the-art method to do just that. Its functioning is described in this article.

Advanced Game Theory Overview

September 13, 2012Article6211 vuesEdit
This article gives an overview of recent developments in game theory, including evolutionary game theory, extensive form games, mechanism design, bayesian games and mean field games.

Game Theory and the Nash Equilibrium

August 20, 2012Article12894 vuesEdit
In the movie "A Beautiful Mind", the character is John Nash. He is one of the founders of a large and important field of applied mathematics called game theory. Game Theory is the study of human interactions. Its fallouts in economy, politics or biology are countless. This article gives you an introduction to the concepts of this amazing way of thinking.