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New knot theory discovery overturns long-held mathematical assumption

141 points by baruchel

by argomo

5 subcomments

Maybe the article is dumbing it down too much, but the conclusion seems unsurprising. Why shouldn't a single unknotting do double-duty in some cases?
It feels akin to the classic trick of joining a tetrahedron to a square pyramid: 4 faces + 5 faces == 5 faces total!
https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=rXIzUtLG2jE

by d--b

0 subcomment

This is when you read articles like these that you realize how great the articles on quanta magazine are.

by baruchel

2 subcomments

Without paywall: https://www.removepaywall.com/search?url=https://www.scienti...

by KyleBerezin

0 subcomment

Gem of an old video going over the basics of knot theory. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QcLfb0PhfO0
It was made on a supercomputer from the 90's

by viraptor

3 subcomments

Is this something people have been actively trying to disprove? The example provided seems to not be hard to bruteforce - given it's only 5 moves. Does anyone know why there's no older counter example? (Or am I totally underestimating how the number of options explodes in 5 moves?)

by cka

1 subcomments

Wow, this problem has been around for a long time. Exciting to see this finally figured out.

by binary132

1 subcomments