Mathematicians Use Gödel's Incompleteness Theorems to Develop New Cryptographic Tool
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By Ben Brubaker May 11, 2026
The bagel they save for the regulars. Don't skim, savour.
Summary
This article explores the intersection of mathematical unknowability (inspired by Gödel's incompleteness theorems) and modern cryptography. It discusses how a graduate student leveraged the inherent complexity and unpredictability of mathematical proofs to develop a novel cryptographic tool. The piece bridges abstract mathematical concepts with practical applications in secure communications.
Key quotes
· 3 pulledMathematicians spend most of their time thinking about what's knowable. But the unknowable can be just as compelling.
Gödel's celebrated result established that for any reasonable set of basic mathematical assumptions, called axioms, it's impossible to prove that the axioms won't eventually lead to contradictions.
A graduate student recently harnessed the complexity of mathematical proofs to create a powerful new tool in cryptography.
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