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The Mathematics Behind Quasicrystals

Israeli scientist Daniel Shechtman was awarded this year’s Nobel Prize in Chemistry for his discovery of quasicrystals. Read a bit about the math behind this new discovery that has, in the words of the Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences, “forced scientists to reconsider their conception of the very nature of matter.”

- "Penrose Tiling" (pdf) from Martin Gardner’s Penrose Tiles to Trapoor Ciphers…and the Return of Dr. Matrix (MAA Books)

Math Unveils Strange Properties of Quasicrystals (Math in the News, May 31, 2007)

Natural Quasicrystal Discovered with Fivefold Symmetry (Math in the News, June 16, 2009)

id: 
4225
News Date: 
Wednesday, October 5, 2011