Skilled improvisers outperform non-improvisers in distinguishing between easy-to-substitute chords, with their brains showing distinct electrical activity. Improvisational practice reinforces how the brain represents different musical structures, suggesting a scientific basis for creativity.
Mathematicians Dmitry Khavinson and Genevra Neumann describe how their work on the Fundamental Theorem of Algebra led them to questions in astrophysics, specifically gravitational lensing. Their result resolves a conjecture of Sun Hong Rhie, establishing that the number of zeros of certain rational harmonic functions is 5n - 5.
Researchers at UW-Madison crack long-standing problem of mock theta functions using Harmonic Maass Forms. The discovery is invaluable in resolving open questions in number theory and enables applications to physics, chemistry, and mathematics.