Monthly Archives: February 2014

Gears

If I have seen further it is by standing on the shoulders of giants. This memorable quotation from Sir Isaac Newton, it has been speculated, was a subtle derogatory reference to the physical stature of his rival, Robert Hooke. Many derivative … Continue reading

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Schönhage-Strassen algorithm

Interestingly, the first article on cp4space was concerned with Fourier series and pathological functions. Assuming you haven’t read it (which is plausible, since it precluded the early-2013 popularity surge), I suppose I should start by re-introducing them. Fourier reasoned that … Continue reading

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Cipher 58: Regarding knot theory

Sorry about the slight delay in posting this cipher. There’s plenty of background contextual information, all of which will be revealed once you’ve solved it: TYFXTGXQYGTUYIIUHIFQDIXTDBQVITGEO QVTYRLOEITLYQOINBULWJLYLQOBXQPUIT GDEPDITIEITLYGTBXUVWTVDISUDGVTPUS

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Cipher 57: Inadvertent involution

This cipher happened to have a nice property, which is a complete coincidence. The original title of the cipher was supposed to be ‘vexed’, hence the filename. Hopefully you’ll have more luck with this one than its immediate predecessor, which remains … Continue reading

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Soddy’s hexlet

Suppose we have three semi-transparent light blue spheres, S1, S2 and S3, which are all externally tangent to each other. Then, we have a series of metallic green spheres, Γ0, Γ1, Γ2, Γ3, Γ4, Γ5, such that each one touches the … Continue reading

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Cipher 56: Myrmecological madness

This cipher is entirely contained within the following image: The password is eleven letters long, if that helps.

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Exotic spheres

The second round of the British Mathematical Olympiad was marked today; results are available from Joseph Myers’ website. Congratulations to everyone who featured on the leaderboard (especially Linden Ralph, who secured first place). Moreover, best of luck to the recently-appointed EGMO team of Olivia … Continue reading

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Cipher 55: Tantalising

This time, I have decided to use a more traditional form of encryption. RSCOJDNQHDNLSCKXSQGDUAKQRRAKKTQHHXMAR LBGAJAMDKLIBHAISCSDHBGDEANLRKQEKNLNQN LSCRLBGAJVGLRGLKCSNNGAISKNMLTTLRQHNBQ ZZHALCNGAVSJHMDKKQRGLNVSQHMIDPANGLCOK TDJNSSNJLULDHNSKLIBHXKQBBHXNGABDKKVSJ MKSLCKNADMXSQDJARSIBAHHAMNSVSJPGDJMAJ Enjoy.

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Hurwitz surfaces

The second round of the British Mathematical Olympiad was taken yesterday, with the questions available online from Joseph Myers’ website. Results should be released shortly after marking, which takes place next Saturday. Recall that a Riemann surface is a complex 1-manifold, … Continue reading

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