Caltech Mathathon

40 hours, AI allowed, solve an open problem.

AI has made groundbreaking progress in pure math in the past few months:

May 20, 2026: Erdos's planar unit-distance conjecture disproved (open ~80 years)
July 19, 2026: Jacobian conjecture solved (open 87 years)
August 1, 2026: The first explicit non-sofic group was constructed (open 27 years)
and more

This AI advancement begs the following questions: (a) How much can AI speed up the process from ideation to peer-reviewed publication? (b) What is the role of a mathematician when AI can solve conjectures faster?

We are assembling the top math talent worldwide to answer these questions. On October 9th, a hundred teams will be given frontier models to solve open conjectures and build new mathematical theories. Competing teams range from IMO medalists to leading researchers in Math and Physics.

It will be the first hackathon ever devoted to research level mathematics.

Where: California Institute of Technology
When: October 9th to October 11th

Apply now

The E₈ root system: 240 roots in eight dimensions, drawn with an edge between every pair at 60°. Here it turns through the Coxeter plane, where its 240 roots fall into 8 rings of 30 — one for each exponent of the Weyl group. Its lattice gives the densest sphere packing in dimension eight.