Computer science staff writer @quantamagazine.bsky.social, ex-physicist. More about me at benbrubaker.com. Banner art by Nico Roper — find more of their work at nicoroper.com. [Obligatory disclaimer about views being my own.]
Today, Shayan Oveis Gharan was awarded the IMU Abacus Medal, one of the highest honors in theoretical computer science. Read about his life and work in my profile for @quantamagazine.bsky.social:
Shayan Oveis Gharan Wins 2026 IMU Abacus Medal | Quanta MagazineShayan Oveis Gharan has won the Abacus Medal for using tools from across mathematics to boost the power of algorithms.www.quantamagazine.orgAfter 20 years, researchers finally have strong evidence that “quantum proofs” are more powerful than ordinary classical ones. The results suggest that at least in computation, there’s no way around the complexity of the quantum world. Read more in @quantamagazine.bsky.social:
Researchers Reveal the Power of ‘Quantum Proofs’ | Quanta MagazineWhen checking that solutions to certain problems are correct, it turns out, you can’t get around the inherent complexity of the quantum world.www.quantamagazine.orgOut today in @quantamagazine.bsky.social — my latest dispatch from the very meta, mind-bending corners of CS theory research. It's about a new approach to cryptography in which secrecy stems from Gödel-esque unprovable statements!
How Unknowable Math Can Help Hide Secrets | Quanta MagazineA graduate student recently harnessed the complexity of mathematical proofs to create a powerful new tool in cryptography.www.quantamagazine.orgIt's not often that I do breaking news! Today, Charles Bennett and Gilles Brassard received the Turing Award for helping lay the foundations of quantum information science. Read more in @quantamagazine.bsky.social!
Quantum Cryptography Pioneers Win Turing Award | Quanta MagazineCharles Bennett and Gilles Brassard were recognized for their foundational work in quantum information science.www.quantamagazine.org"Special Envoy for the Shield" as a job title sounds approximately as plausible as "Secretary of the Hook:"
Shaking Up Washington: Donald Trump Just Appointed A Cloaked Man As Secretary Of The Hookclickhole.comAaron Ruparoh my goodness she seems to think Special Envoy for the Shield is a real job
In my recent story about failure modes of algorithmic pricing, I quoted @jasonhartline.bsky.social arguing that the specific example I focused on shouldn't count as algorithmic collusion. Here's a blog post in which he makes that argument in more detail, for those who are curious about this debate:
Jason HartlineIn CS+Law, clear definitions are needed to connect computation & law. For supra-competitive prices to be blamed on 𝐚𝐥𝐠𝐨𝐫𝐢𝐭𝐡𝐦𝐢𝐜 𝐜𝐨𝐥𝐥𝐮𝐬𝐢𝐨𝐧, it must be that neither party is behaving competitively. See "𝘊𝘭𝘢𝘳𝘪𝘧𝘪𝘤𝘢𝘵𝘪𝘰𝘯 𝘰𝘧 `𝘈𝘭𝘨𝘰𝘳𝘪𝘵𝘩𝘮𝘪𝘤 𝘊𝘰𝘭𝘭𝘶𝘴𝘪𝘰𝘯 𝘸𝘪𝘵𝘩𝘰𝘶𝘵 𝘛𝘩𝘳𝘦𝘢𝘵𝘴'" jasonhartline.com/clarifying-a...
How can we make sense of computational problems that we don’t even have the language to describe? I spoke to @henryyuen.bsky.social about what’s missing from the standard approach to quantum complexity theory — read more in @quantamagazine.bsky.social!
A New Complexity Theory for the Quantum Age | Quanta MagazineHenry Yuen is developing a new mathematical language to describe problems whose inputs and outputs aren’t ordinary numbers.www.quantamagazine.orgWhat can computer science can tell us about the best way to store stuff? A partial answer in this short explainer about data structures — my latest for @quantamagazine.bsky.social
Why There’s No Single Best Way To Store Information | Quanta MagazineThe math of data structures helps us understand how different storage systems come with different trade-offs between resources such as time and memory.www.quantamagazine.orgI love how local resistance to ICE thugs has highlighted (among many other more important things) that the Honda Fit is the best car of all time.
Will StancilYou guys have no idea how good this car is for what we’re doing. You can lurk in alleys or behind parked SUVs. It drives like a go-cart. You’re three feet off the ground with exceptional visibility so I can pull snap u-turns or cut behind convoys
Speaking of Plato — the latest from the stalwart defenders of western civilization against the excesses of woke postmodernism!
Olúfẹ́mi O. Táíwò"I’m going to pause here just to review: an institution that purports to be a university has told a philosophy professor he is forbidden from teaching Plato." surreal times dailynous.com/2026/01/06/t...
New story by me in @quantamagazine.bsky.social unpacking the provocatively named "Platonic representation hypothesis." In what sense, and to what degree, are different AI models are growing more similar?
Distinct AI Models Seem To Converge On How They Encode Reality | Quanta MagazineIs the inside of a vision model at all like a language model? Researchers argue that as the models grow more powerful, they may be converging toward a singular “Platonic” way to represent the world.www.quantamagazine.orgWe have two job openings at Quanta, for a math writer and a senior editor! More info below:
The Simons Foundation is a private foundation in New York City whose mission is to advance the frontiers of research in mathematics and the basic sciences. Founded in 1994 by Jim and Marilyn Simons, the foundation supports transformative science through grantmaking, in-house research and public engagement. The Simons Foundation provides grants in autism science and neuroscience; life sciences; mathematics and physical sciences; and science, society and culture. The foundation’s in-house research division, the Flatiron Institute, develops and deploys computational methods to advance basic scientific research. Visit the Simons Foundation career page to learn more Salary and Benefits In addition to competitive salaries, the Simons Foundation provides employees with an outstanding benefits package. Our Commitment to Expanding Pathways to Science & Opportunities for All: Many of the greatest ideas and discoveries come from a diverse mix of minds, backgrounds, and experiences. The Simons Foundation is committed to advancing basic science and mathematics to benefit humankind and expand our collective understanding of our world. As part of our mission, we support partners, programs, and initiatives that seek to broaden the scientific community and open pathways to science and mathematics careers. The Simons Foundation provides equal opportunities to all applicants without regard to race, religion, color, age, sex, pregnancy, national origin, sexual orientation, gender identity, genetic disposition, neurodiversity, disability, veteran status, or any other protected category under federal, state, and local law. E-Verify Simons Foundation participates in E-Verify. Learn more here.simonsfoundation.wd1.myworkdayjobs.comPer Barbara Tuchman's A Distant Mirror, brigands in 14th-century France would routinely surround towns and threaten to attack unless they were both paid off and absolved of their sins by the local clergy.
MeidasTouchNEWS: Trump officials are worried the ICC may try to prosecute them for war crimes once Trump's term ends, and are threatening sanctions against the ICC to change its founding document to grant them immunity. (via Reuters / link in reply)
What does counting pigeons have to do with Turing machines? More than you might think. In @quantamagazine.bsky.social, my latest foray into the wild world of meta-complexity, this time through the lens of mathematical logic:
‘Reverse Mathematics’ Illuminates Why Hard Problems Are Hard | Quanta MagazineResearchers have used metamathematical techniques to show that certain theorems that look superficially distinct are in fact logically equivalent.www.quantamagazine.orgDoes riffing on the title of the transformer paper boost citations? Somebody should look into it, and if the answer is yes, write a paper called "'All you need' is all you need"
Anti-concentration is (almost) all you needUntil very recently, it was generally believed that the (approximate) 2-design property is strictly stronger than anti-concentration of random quantum circuits, mainly because it was shown that the la...arxiv.orgI published a new post on my rarely updated personal blog! It's a sequel of sorts to my Quanta coverage of the Busy Beaver game, focusing on a particularly fearsome Turing machine known by the awesome name Antihydra.
Why Busy Beaver Hunters Fear the AntihydraIn which I explore the biggest barrier in the busy beaver game. What is Antihydra, what is the Collatz conjecture, how are they connected, and what makes them so daunting?benbrubaker.comIn the US, regulators try to ensure fair prices by banning collusion. But what happens when prices are set by algorithms? New story by me in @quantamagazine.bsky.social about a surprising way that seemingly benign pricing algorithms can go awry:
The Game Theory of How Algorithms Can Drive Up Prices | Quanta MagazineRecent findings reveal that even simple pricing algorithms can make things more expensive.www.quantamagazine.org