Euromaths: Heather Harrington - Maths on the Move

We all know what data is: bits of information of which in this age of Big Data we have lots of. You might also know what topology is: the study of shapes that considers two shapes to be the same if you can deform one into the other without tearing them or gluing things together. But what is topological data analysis? And how might it help to understand proteins or diseases such as cancer? We find out with <a href='https://www.maths.ox.ac.uk/people/heather.harrington'>Heather Harrington</a> a mathematician we met at the European Congress of Mathematics (ECM) this summer. Heather tells us how topological data analysis can produce a so-called barcode for a given data set which gives deep insights into its structure. Below are a couple of images illustrating a barcode to illustrate what we talk about in the podcast. We attended the ECM with kind support of the <a href='https://lms.ac.uk/'>London Mathematical Society</a> (LMS). Heather gave the LMS lecture at the ECM. <...