Behold Modular Forms, the ‘Fifth Fundamental Operation’ of Math

Plus: What's behind the new generative genius of AI; The timekeeper for cells; The hunter of the first cosmic dawn

Math and Science News from Quanta Magazine View this email in your browser NUMBER THEORY | ALL TOPICS   Behold Modular Forms, the 'Fifth Fundamental Operation' of Mathematics By JORDANA CEPELEWICZ Modular forms are one of the most beautiful and mysterious objects in mathematics. What are they? And what now makes them crucial to the development of the "mathematical theory of everything" called the Langlands program? Read the article Related:  What Is the Langlands Program? By Alex Kontorovich (2022) NEURAL NETWWORKS   The Physical Process That Powers a New Type of Generative AI By STEVE NADIS Some modern image generators rely on the principles of diffusion to create images. Alternatives based on the process behind the distribution of charged particles may yield even better results. Read the blog Related:  The AI Tools Making Images Look Better By Amos Zeeberg DEVELOPMENTAL BIOLOGY   What Makes Life Tick? Mitochondria May Keep Time for Cells By VIVIANE CALLIER Every species develops at its own unique tempo, leaving scientists to wonder what governs their timing. A suite of new findings suggests that cells use basic metabolic processes as clocks. Read the article Related:  Biologists Discover Unknown Powers in Mighty Mitochondria By Diana Kwon (2019) Q&A   The Experimental Cosmologist Hunting for the First Sunrise By SARAH SCOLES To catch even a whiff of the universe's earliest epochs — an age of darkness, and one of new light — Cynthia Chiang builds her own equipment. Then she deploys it at the ends of the Earth. Read the interview Watch the video  Around the Web A Metastability Mystery Researchers have discovered a quantum version of the "Mpemba effect": the phenomenon that causes hot water to freeze faster than cold, reports Anna Demming for Physics World. In its classical form, the Mpemba effect can be caused by a system of water molecules falling into a "metastable state," as Adam Mann wrote for Quanta in 2022. Yet, surprisingly, the quantum system exhibiting the Mpemba effect contains no such metastable states. The Power of Forgetting The neuroscientist Tomás Ryan studies how our brains forget. He explains how forgetting may help our brains to learn in an interview with Daisy Yuhas for Scientific American. Forgetting is one strategy that our brains use to sift through our massive storehouses of experiences to keep important memories at the forefront, as Dalmeet Singh Chawla described for Quanta in 2018.   Follow Quanta Simons Foundation 160 5th Avenue, 7th Floor New York, NY 10010 Unsubscribe | About Quanta Privacy Policy | Terms | Contact Us   Copyright © 2023 Quanta Magazine, an editorially independent division of the Simons Foundation