Lisa Piccirillo solved math problems in node in less than one week.
Sunday, June 14, 2020
UPDATimes - Lisa Piccirillo only needed less than a week to answer a half-century math problem discovered by mathematician John Conway.
In mid-2018, at the topology and geometry conference, Piccirillo heard about a mathematical problem called the Conway Knot.
Piccirillo felt mathematical problems could be the basis for testing some of the techniques he had developed when he was a student at the University of Texas, Austin.
"I deliberately did not do it directly because I felt the problem was not original mathematics, and I made it like homework," Piccirillo said.
The Conway knot with 11 knots has baffled mathematicians for half a century.
In mid-2018, at the topology and geometry conference, Piccirillo heard about a mathematical problem called the Conway Knot.
Piccirillo felt mathematical problems could be the basis for testing some of the techniques he had developed when he was a student at the University of Texas, Austin.
"I deliberately did not do it directly because I felt the problem was not original mathematics, and I made it like homework," Piccirillo said.
The Conway knot with 11 knots has baffled mathematicians for half a century.
Before one week, Piccirillo had his answer and a few days later he met with Cameron Gordon, professor at the University of Texas and briefly mentioned it.
Gordon was immediately shocked and stated that what Piccirillo was doing had to go straight into the Annals of Mathematics, one of the prestigious journals for this discipline.
"He immediately shouted and asked me why you are not happy," said Piccirillo, who is currently taking up a postdoctoral program at Brandeis University.
Gordon was immediately shocked and stated that what Piccirillo was doing had to go straight into the Annals of Mathematics, one of the prestigious journals for this discipline.
"He immediately shouted and asked me why you are not happy," said Piccirillo, who is currently taking up a postdoctoral program at Brandeis University.
"Apparently he did not realize that what he was completing was a famous ancient mathematical problem," Piccirillo told the science site Quanta.
"The Conway node problem is a long-standing problem and many mathematicians try to solve this problem but cannot solve it," said mathematician Javier Aramayona, a researcher at the University of Madrid and a member of the Spanish Institute of Mathematics (ICMAT).
"The Conway node problem is a long-standing problem and many mathematicians try to solve this problem but cannot solve it," said mathematician Javier Aramayona, a researcher at the University of Madrid and a member of the Spanish Institute of Mathematics (ICMAT).
Math knot, what is that ?
To explain the Conway node problem that needs to be known is topology, the branch of mathematics that includes vertices.
In topology there is what is called node theory, the object of study that has similarities in daily life.
"If we imagine the rope and we glue the edges, that's the idea behind it," said mathematician Marithania Silvero from the Mathematics Institute of the University of Sevilla, Spain,
"What is learned in this theory are various forms that we can make by crossing, bending, folding and pressing, and what is not allowed is to cut the rope. It is forbidden," he said.
"We can imagine as many vertices and crosses as possible and as complicated as possible," said Aramayona.
"Various shapes of the knot are full of complicated cross examples," he added.
In topology there is what is called node theory, the object of study that has similarities in daily life.
"If we imagine the rope and we glue the edges, that's the idea behind it," said mathematician Marithania Silvero from the Mathematics Institute of the University of Sevilla, Spain,
"What is learned in this theory are various forms that we can make by crossing, bending, folding and pressing, and what is not allowed is to cut the rope. It is forbidden," he said.
"We can imagine as many vertices and crosses as possible and as complicated as possible," said Aramayona.
"Various shapes of the knot are full of complicated cross examples," he added.
Conway died because of Covid-19
This matter of Conway's knot became famous because of Conway itself.
Conway died on 11 April because of Covid-19. This mathematician worked at various well-known universities such as Cambridge and Princeton.
According to Siobhan Roberts who wrote his biography, Conway was like "Archimedes, Mick Jagger, Salvador Dali and physicist Richard Feynman, in one person".
In 1970, Conway introduced the knot with 11 crosses and since then many mathematicians have tried to solve but without success.
Piccirillo's solution was to use a creative strategy, that the Conway node was part.
What it proves is praised as the beauty of mathematics and its steps can also open the way to finding new ways to understand the knot.
Conway died on 11 April because of Covid-19. This mathematician worked at various well-known universities such as Cambridge and Princeton.
According to Siobhan Roberts who wrote his biography, Conway was like "Archimedes, Mick Jagger, Salvador Dali and physicist Richard Feynman, in one person".
In 1970, Conway introduced the knot with 11 crosses and since then many mathematicians have tried to solve but without success.
Piccirillo's solution was to use a creative strategy, that the Conway node was part.
What it proves is praised as the beauty of mathematics and its steps can also open the way to finding new ways to understand the knot.
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