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The Burau representation of the braid group is faithful for n = 4 (arxiv.org)
culi 5 hours ago [-]
Interestingly, David Graeber argued that mathematical thinking likely began through initiatives of women. Specifically tied to practices like weaving, beadwork, and tracking plant-based knowledge.

https://theanarchistlibrary.org/library/david-graeber-and-da...

ashivkum 4 hours ago [-]
not necessarily disputing any of his conclusions, but I find his style of argument frustratingly slippery, always generalizing broadly from weak evidence
culi 2 hours ago [-]
He was much more effective at disputing narratives than he was at creating alternative ones. But no one can deny his ability to captivate and inspire the imagination

This was one of my favorite talks he gave: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Hn78MhPmbCc

wglb 8 hours ago [-]
Also https://www.yahoo.com/news/science/articles/99-old-mathemati.... Someone who has been at this problem for 60 years.
slwvx 7 hours ago [-]
axus 6 hours ago [-]
Nice! Her experience getting a "bionic ear" at age 80 was very interesting: https://www.math.columbia.edu/~jb/my-bionic-ear.pdf
marysminefnuf 6 hours ago [-]
Birman still dropping bangers at 100 is quite something. We knew 3 strands is faithful and it was assumed 4 must be true but the ramifications of this in the face of quantum computing will be really fun going forward.
vlovich123 5 hours ago [-]
What are the ramifications?
marysminefnuf 36 minutes ago [-]
??? But it does allow us to better reason about which braids are different or the same. and the most promising quantum computers use braiding to form logic gates.
WorkerBee28474 6 hours ago [-]
99, according to Wikipedia, but yeah
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