Jean-Jacques Dupas
107 articles published in Tangente
History and CultureN°177Jul 17, 2017Literature and mathematics
Perec in the Pléiade, Nabokov in Big Data, and mathematics in a "digest"
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History and CultureN°63May 25, 2017The zeta function and the Riemann hypothesis
The most important problem in contemporary mathematics can be stated in entirely elementary terms, requiring only a rudimentary knowledge of complex analysis. Despite mathematicians' titanic efforts, the Riemann hypothesis remains stubbornly out of reach.
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Math for everyoneN°63May 25, 2017Complex numbers aren't so complicated
What do complex numbers really represent? How can we "picture" i² being equal to −1? A striking visual answer comes from interpreting multiplication geometrically. The icing on the cake is that the same model explains why "a negative times a negative makes a positive."
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Math for everyoneN°176May 22, 2017Curva ex machina
Do you know Kempe's universality theorem? This 19th-century result states that any algebraic curve can be drawn by a linkage. Today, computers and robotics have replaced the ingenious mechanisms devised by scientists of the past.
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Math for everyoneN°175Mar 23, 2017Sociology briefs
Did you know?
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Math for everyoneN°174Jan 16, 2017In pursuit of Euler's formula
In a polyhedron, the number of vertices, S, plus the number of faces, F, equals the number of edges, A, plus 2. In other words, S + F = A + 2. For many mathematicians, Euler's formula is the most beautiful formula of all! Above all, it has had an eventful history, to say the least...
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Math for everyoneN°171Jul 15, 2016Sphere packing:
We live in extraordinary times! Not a month goes by without a new mathematical breakthrough. The latest? A young researcher has solved the problem of the optimal packing of identical spheres in dimensions 8 and 24.
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Math for everyoneN°59Apr 25, 2016Without the straightedge, without the compass…
Every straightedge-and-compass construction can be carried out with compass alone. This rather extraordinary result comes as a surprise.
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Math for everyoneN°169Mar 09, 2016Root extraction
Newton's method is a general method for finding the solution to an equation of the form f (x) = 0 by applying a simple algorithm.
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Math for everyoneN°169Mar 09, 2016Square roots
"The square root is my favorite," declared Boris Vian in Racine carrée (Square Root) in 1957. From antiquity to modern high-performance computing, many methods have been devised to calculate square roots in practice.
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Math for everyoneN°167Jan 26, 2016The adventurers of the forgotten pentagon
The recent discovery of a pentagon that tiles the plane brings to mind an endearing figure: Marjorie Rice. An American homemaker, she would hide away in her kitchen to indulge her passion for mathematics.
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