Comics about mathematics, science, and the student life.

Light Cone

A spacetime diagram with space on the horizontal axis and time on the vertical axis. A large dot in the middle is the moment a new result enters the literature. The light cone shows the maximum speed at which the result can diffuse through the community. But underneath the light cone is where some people assume others heard of a result.

“You haven’t heard of this new result?!”

“No, could you tell me where to look for it?”

“Yeah…oh wait, it’s not published yet.”