Interview with Marjan Sjerps: Mathematicians have a way of thinking that I really like
The Netherlands Forensic Institute (NFI) has a great deal of in-house knowledge in the field of forensic products, research and services, and provides many organizations in the field of security and law with reliable information from traces. Mathematical models are used within the NFI to understand the evidential value of the traces found.
Science in the city
In the city of Utrecht there are four wall paintings of Dutch physisists. Do you know which ones? In this short blog post we want to take you on a virtual bike ride in the city of Utrecht.
Light work(s): Optical Networks – communication fabric of our society
On Friday 24th of September Professor Ton Koonen received a royal distinction “Ridder in the Orde van de Nederlandse Leeuw” during the symposium “Optical Networks – communication fabric of our society”, preceding his valedictory lecture “Light work(s)”.
Percolation theory: about math and gossip
Percolation theory is a branch of mathematics at the interface between probability theory and graph theory. The term 'percolation' originates from materials science. A representative question is as follows. Suppose some liquid is poured over a porous material. Will the liquid be able to make its way from hole to hole and reach the bottom?
A glimpse into a Three-Continents Workshop
The world is opening up again, but I think it's fair to say the organisation of workshops and conferences is not at all back to normal yet.
Enigma: a complexity titan
In times of war, secure communication can be the difference between life and death, or even winning or losing a war. The first to patent a rotor machine in Europe was Arthur Scherbius in 1918. Scherbius’ version of the rotor machine became a commercial success, unlike the other patented machines. Scherbius named his machine Enigma.
Cycling to 57,912 National Monuments in the Netherlands
In March 2021 the largest roadmap instance of the traveling salesman problem ever was solved. This is a new record for the Travelling Salesman!
Discussing with two great mathematicians
Before the summer break we interviewed together with Raf Bocklandt mathematicians David Aldous and László Lovász.
A big breakthrough in the Euclidean Travelling Salesman Problem
Recently there has been a breakthrough in the field of algorithms for geometric network problems, concerning the complexity of the Euclidean Travelling Salesman Problem.
Sociomaths: The maths of living apart together
Phenomena like social cohesion and polarisation emerge from individual interactions on the social network of relationships between people. So, what does this network look like?