Snapshots of modern mathematics

Snapshots of modern mathematics
Nov. 10, 2015

Snapshots are short, easy to understand articles on recent topics of mathematical research. They explain mathematical problems and ideas in an accessible and understandable way, and provide exciting insights into current topics of the mathematical community for everyone who is interested in modern mathematics.

The snapshots are all written by real experts in their fields:
At the Mathematisches Forschungsinstitut Oberwolfach, every week 50 to 60 experts from all over the world work together on current challenges in the field of Mathematics. They introduce new results, discuss different approaches and develop new ideas. After each symposium, the institute asks selected participants to explain one aspect of their research in a comprehensible language to a general audience in a few pages. A team of young mathematicians revise the articles in close collaboration with the authors and assists them in communicating complicated matters to a broad audience. Together they prepare an edited version for publication.

Find all published snapshots at the IMAGINARY texts section!
So far, there are 23 Snapshots available in English and German. More are to come. Some of the English articles are already being translated into other languages. You can filter by mathematical field and/or connections to other fields, as well as authors.

The snapshot project is designed to promote the understanding and appreciation of modern mathematics and mathematical research in the general public world-wide. As part of the project “Oberwolfach meets IMAGINARY, it is funded by the Klaus Tschira Stiftung.

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All News

Apr. 2, 2013

Last week Holi was celebrated in India (with a lot of colours) and this week Easter in the Christian world (with equally many colours). Happy celebrations! Easter eggs are very popular within the IMAGINARY team, not the chocolate ones, but the ones you hide within a software program. We hid two Easter eggs in our museum exhibits: one in the MiMa museum in Oberwolfach and one in the MoMath museum in New York. They are...Read more

Mar. 12, 2013

The Italian edition of Scientific American, Le Science, has published a very nice piece by Roberta Fulci about the IMAGINARY platform launch. You can find it here (in Italian). 

Have you seen more articles or references about IMAGINARY in the news? If so,...Read more

Mar. 7, 2013

We are very happy that the user response to the new IMAGINARY platform was so big - too big for our server capacity. Today in the morning we registered 1.3 million accesses on the site (before 11:30 am) and we had to react quickly to shift the website to a new server. This caused several delays and also the platform was not online for about 2 hours. We are very sorry for this! 

Now the platform is up and...Read more

Feb. 10, 2013

On March 5, 2013 the new exhibition “Mathematics of Planet Earth” (MPE) and the new IMAGINARY platform will be launched officially at the MPE UNESCO day. The platform will host the open source exhibition, which will be physically displayed for the first time at UNESCO and remain there until March 8. The venue is...Read more

Dec. 12, 2012

The new Museum of Mathematics (MoMath) will open its doors in Manhattan, New York. “Mathematics illuminates the patterns and structures all around us. Our dynamic exhibits and programs will stimulate inquiry, spark curiosity, and reveal the wonders of mathematics. The Museum will have its grand opening on Saturday, December 15, 2012 at 11 East 26th Street in Manhattan.”

IMAGINARY is present with one exhibit: a...Read more

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