Tweets about algebra, number theory, and miscellaneous math by @JohnDCook.

Joined January 2010
It is unknown whether the number of Mersenne primes is finite.
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Kan's paper introducing adjoint functors ams.org/journals/tran/1958-0… [pdf]
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The popular Mersenne Twister random number generator is so named because its period is a Mersenne prime.
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A matrix Q is orthogonal iff it has orthonormal columns (or rows).
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For n >= 5, the alternating group A_n is simple.
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Volume to Area ratio for Regular Solids johndcook.com/blog/2026/07/2…
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If matrices A and B commute, then exp(A + B) = exp(A) exp(B).
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How NASA used Hadamard matrices to transmit photos from Mars johndcook.com/blog/2026/08/1…
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An n x n matrix A is non-singular iff the system Ax = b is consistent for all b.
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A subgroup N of G is normal if g^{-1}Ng = N for all g in G.
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An n × n real matrix B has a real logarithm if and only if B is nonsingular and for each negative eigenvalue λ and each positive integer k the number of k × k Jordan λ-blocks occurring in the Jordan form of B is even.
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Every positive integer can be written as a sum of distinct Fibonacci numbers.
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If 2^p - 1 is prime, 2^{p-1}(2^p - 1) is an even perfect number. Euclid, Prob IX.36.
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An n x n matrix A is non-singular iff dim(range(A)) = n.
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