Aperiodical News Roundup – September 2023

Here’s a roundup of some things that happened in September 2023 that you may have missed.

The Royal Society Sylvester Medal 2023 has been awarded to Professor Miles Reid FRS (right) for “his exceptionally creative research and fundamental insights into higher-dimensional algebraic geometry, in particular the minimal model program for 3-folds, and for untiring work for the community of algebraic geometers”.

The Breakthrough Prize has announced their laureates for 2024 – the Breakthrough Prize in Mathematics has been awarded to Simon Brendle, and they’ve also announced the six New Horizons Prizes for early-career mathematicians and three Maryam Mirzakhani New Frontiers Prizes for specifically early-career women. The so-called ‘Oscars of Science’ will be awarded next April  at the Breakthrough Prize ceremony, held in Los Angeles and featuring all loads of celebs and such. (via theHigherGeometer)

It’s Möbin’ time! According to this Quanta article, embedded Möbius strips made out of paper can only be constructed with an aspect ratio greater than √3, as per an ArXiV preprint from 24th August. This means it needs to be about 1.73 times as long as it is wide – if your paper is 1cm wide, you won’t be able to Möbius it up it unless it’s at least 1.73cm long. The rectangle on the left is officially the squattest a piece of paper can be and still Möb. (via Ros Porter of Sheffield Hallam University)

The recent aperiodic monotile discovery has inspired a competition: the UKMT and MoMath are launching a Hat and Spectre tile themed competition, called The Einstein Mad Hat Awards 2023. They’re seeking ‘renditions of the Hat and Spectre tiles’, and ‘submissions highlighting the connections between mathematics, art, design, and catering are encouraged’.

In maths museum news, they’ve opened the Maison Poincaré, France’s first museum dedicated to maths. Based in Paris’ Latin Quarter and managed by the Sorbonne, it’s “a place where you can feel and see mathematics in its various incarnations,” according to maths vampire/Fields medallist Cédric Villani. (Photo: Sorbonne)

And finally, our own Katie and Peter have set up a fun new project, called Finite Group – a collective of cool maths people who want to have nice conversations about mathematical ideas. With membership from £4 a month, there’ll be livestreamed monthly-ish video chats, and a community discussion group in Discord. The first livestream will be free for anyone to watch, and you can read more about it in Peter’s blog post.