When pigeons outnumber pigeonholes, some birds must double up. This obvious statement — and its inverse — have deep connections to many areas of math and computer science.The story <a href="https://www.quantamagazine.org/how-a-problem-about-pigeons-powers-complexity-theory-20250404/">How a Problem About Pigeons Powers Complexity Theory</a> first appeared on Quanta Magazine.

When pigeons outnumber pigeonholes, some birds must double up. This obvious statement — and its inverse — have deep connections to many areas of math and computer science. The story How a Problem About Pigeons Powers Complexity Theory first appeared on Quanta Magazine.

When pigeons outnumber pigeonholes, some birds must double up. This obvious statement — and its inverse — have deep connections to many areas of math and computer science.The story <a href="https://www.quantamagazine.org/how-a-problem-about-pigeons-powers-complexity-theory-20250404/" rel="noopener noreferrer">How a Problem About Pigeons Powers Complexity Theory</a> first appeared on Quanta Magazine.

Audio Edition: How a Problem About Pigeons Powers Complexity Theory

Exploring the distant universe, the insides of cells, the abstractions of math, the complexity of information itself, and much more, The Quanta Podcast is a tour of the frontier between the known and the unknown. In each episode, Quanta Magazine Editor-in-Chief Samir Patel speaks with the minds behind the award-winning publication to navigate through some of the most important and mind-expanding questions in science and math. Quanta specifically covers fundamental research — driven by curiosity, discovery and the overwhelming desire to know why and how. Join us every Tuesday for a stimulating conversation about the biggest ideas and the tiniest details.(If you've been a fan of the Quanta Science Podcast, it will continue here. You'll see those episodes marked as audio edition episodes every two weeks.)

Science

Life Sciences

Physics

Exploring the distant universe, the insides of cells, the abstractions of math, the complexity of information itself, and much more, The Quanta Podcast is a tour of the frontier between the known and the unknown. In each episode, Quanta Magazine Editor-in-Chief Samir Patel speaks with the minds behind the award-winning publication to navigate through some of the most important and mind-expanding questions in science and math. Quanta specifically covers fundamental research — driven by curiosity, discovery and the overwhelming desire to know why and how. Join us every Tuesday for a stimulating conversation about the biggest ideas and the tiniest details. (If you've been a fan of the Quanta Science Podcast, it will continue here. You'll see those episodes marked as audio edition episodes every two weeks.)

Share Audio Edition: How a Problem About Pigeons Powers Complexity Theory

Sign up to save your podcasts

Audio Edition: How a Problem About Pigeons Powers Complexity Theory

Audio Edition: How a Problem About Pigeons Powers Complexity Theory

More shows like The Quanta Podcast

Big Picture Science

SpaceTime with Stuart Gary

Ask a Spaceman!

Universe Today Podcast

Into the Impossible With Brian Keating

Physics World Weekly Podcast

Sean Carroll's Mindscape: Science, Society, Philosophy, Culture, Arts, and Ideas

Daniel and Kelly’s Extraordinary Universe

The Origins Podcast with Lawrence Krauss

The Joy of x

The Supermassive Podcast

Theories of Everything with Curt Jaimungal

Why This Universe?

The Joy of Why

The Astrophysics Podcast

Crash Course Pods: The Universe