A simple, step-by-step breakdown of two “perfect” math proofs. But which prime number is p? It must be on our list of primes, because our list is complete. But it also can’t be on our list of primes, ...

For years, a French mathematician searched for a proof that a gigantic number is prime. His method is still used 150 years ...

Infinity down, only 69,999,997 to go. New research has proven that prime numbers don't just disappear as numbers get larger — instead, there is an infinite number of prime numbers separated by a ...

The proof resolves a nearly 80-year-old problem known as the Duffin-Schaeffer conjecture. In doing so, it provides a final answer to a question that has preoccupied mathematicians since ancient times: ...

Fermat’s last theorem is just one of many examples of innocent-looking problems that can long stymie even the most astute mathematicians. It took about 350 years to prove Fermat’s tantalizing ...

A famed mathematical enigma is once again in the spotlight. The Riemann hypothesis, posited in 1859 by German mathematician Bernhard Riemann, is one of the biggest unsolved puzzles in mathematics. The ...

It's a result only a mathematician could love. Researchers hoping to get '2' as the answer for a long-sought proof involving pairs of prime numbers are celebrating the fact that a mathematician has ...

In January, I spoke with Günter Ziegler, one of the authors of Proofs From THE BOOK, a compilation of some of the most beautiful and elegant proofs in mathematics. The collection was inspired by the ...