The graph colouring problem, a classic NP-hard challenge, is central to many practical applications such as scheduling, resource allocation and network management. Recent advances have seen the ...

A theorem for coloring a large class of “perfect” mathematical networks could ease the way for a long-sought general coloring proof. Four years ago, the mathematician Maria Chudnovsky faced an all-too ...

As an undergraduate at the University of Chile, Bernardo Subercaseaux took a dim view of using computers to do math. It seemed antithetical to real intellectual discovery. “There’s some instinct or ...

In 1852, botanist Francis Guthrie noticed something peculiar as he was coloring a map of counties in England. Despite the counties’ meandering shapes and varied configurations, four colors were all he ...