The 2000-year-old mathematics behind modern cybersecurity

Uploaded June 2026 | Updated September 2026, 3 weeks ago

What do seating arrangements, exact loose change, and your internet banking security have in common? The answer is diophantine equations.

In this clip, Professor Helge Holden (Chair of the Abel Prize Committee) breaks down what diophantine equations actually are in the simplest way possible and explains why this ancient math is the literal foundation of modern cybersecurity and safe online transactions.

Footage from the 2026 Abel Prize Ceremony in Oslo.

Watch the full ceremony here: youtu.be/oc1nzkG7zj0

#mathematics #cybersecurity #abelprize #computerscience #education

The 2000-year-old mathematics behind modern cybersecurity | Prof. Helge Holden

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$Luis Caffarelli: Non-linear and non-local surface structure problems and some of its applications Abstract: We introduce non-local fractional diffusion and evolution processes modeling diverse structures in the formation of free boundary problems and diffusion phenomena arising, for instance, from the evolution of energy-partition methods, involving a regularizing mechanism such as local and fractional free energies and convex-like potentials. The applications are abundant in natural sciences and engineering structures, stochastic processes in financial modeling and beyond. This lecture was held by Luis Caffarelli at The University of Oslo, May 24, 2023 and was part of the Abel Prize Lectures in connection with the Abel Prize Week celebrations. Program for the Abel lectures 2023: 1. Luis A. Caffarelli: Non-linear and non-local surface structure problems and some of its applications 2. Sylvia Serfaty: From diffusions to fluid equations: the question of regularity 3. Alessio Figalli: From elastic membranes to ice melting 4. Luis Silvestre: Fully nonlinear elliptic equations and applications$

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