# Mathematics

## What Can You Do With A Maths Degree?

As I have just entered my final year at university, I have started to think about what my future is going to look like and as I’m sure many other final year university students feel, I have no idea what to do next. I wanted to write this article to show that there are so …

## The Birthday Problem: What are the chances?

When writing a birthday card for one of my friends, I noticed a small coincidence: this person had the same birthday as someone else I knew. Since leaving the online world and returning to a slowly-adjusting post-covid University life, I was looking forward to my first night back out being a friend’s birthday party. But …

## Algebra and Chemistry: An Intriguing Overlap.

The links between different STEM subjects is always a topic for discussion, and normally we just take peoples’ word for this. Remember at school a teacher saying, “this applies in Physics too” or “you’ll use this in Chemistry next year”, but just how far does this go and how deep are the connections between two …

## You’re one in a (quarter of a) million: the mathematics of finding love

Okay, enough on the physical aspects of attraction (this isn’t Love Island – but if you’re interested go and read my previous article). Let’s take a look a bit deeper at those aspects of attraction that are beneath the skin. There are a number of traits that science has proven to be commonly attractive for …

## How Long Would It Take You To Crack The Enigma Machine

By now almost everyone would have heard of the Enigma Machine, be it from your love for Benedict Cumberbatch, who played Alan Turing in the Imitation Game, or maybe you have a passion for code breaking. Now I myself am a big fan of Cumberbatch and watching him in the Imitation Game led me to …

## The Universal Symbol – Equals Sign

Today we take for granted the numerous symbols that appear in the mathematical literature, but each has a history of its own, often reflecting the state of Mathematics at the time. -Eli Maor The symbols used in modern Mathematics tend to be understood exclusively by those who deem to use them. In school, the beginner …

## Beauty is in the $\Phi$ of the beholder: the mathematics of human attraction

Human attraction is often regarded as a mystery. How many times has one of your friends got a new partner and you’ve thought to yourself “Dear God, what do they see in them?”? Probably quite a lot – I know I have (sorry friends)! The thing is, human attraction has many components. Is their body …

## Why does a (hyper-)sphere shrink in high dimensions?

I have always liked geometry. I can make sense of a geometrical problem if I can picture it or sketch it on a piece of paper. For example, by drawing a cube box of side $R$, I can immediately convince myself that its surface area is $6 \times R^2$ (as there …

## Meet The Lecturers – Carl-Fredrik Nyberg Brodda

Leanne and I had the absolute pleasure of interviewing Carl, who is a current PhD student here at the University of East Anglia. Starting here in 2018, Carl has almost finished his PhD titled “The word problem in combinatorial group and semigroup theory” under the supervision of Dr Robert Gray. Hi Carl! As you didn’t …

## Are we born good at maths?

Maths is one of those things that you’re either good at or not, right? That’s what people seem to tell you anyway. More so than any other school subject, maths is something that is surrounded by negativity. In fact, 3 in 10 UK adults claim “they are not a numbers person” (Research reveals how poor …