New research on century-old conundrum
New research from an international team on a mathematical conundrum that has been unsolved for over a century has been published.
Professor Alexander Gorban, from the Department of Mathematics, along with international colleagues has focussed on Hilbert's sixth problem in the Philosophical Transactions A special issue.
The papers in this issue present the extended results of the interdisciplinary discussion at the University across key mathematical and physical disciplines involved in the solution of Hilbert's sixth problem: To axiomatise the branches of physics where mathematics is prevalent.
The problem, which remains unsolved after more than a hundred years, was one of 23 posed by Hilbert in 1900 which influenced mathematics throughout the 20th century. Today, it remains one of the most influential areas of interdisciplinary dialogue in mathematics and mathematical physics.