Unsolved Problem by Fields Medalist Breached by Two High School Students
Two high school students, assisted by AI models Claude Opus 5 and GPT-5.6, have solved a complex mathematical problem related to Lorentzian polynomials that had previously stumped a Fields Medalist. The research has been published on arXiv.
Why it matters
This demonstrates the increasing capability of AI as a collaborative tool in high-level academic research, potentially accelerating breakthroughs in pure mathematics.
They haven't even started university, yet their research has connected with the work of a "Fields Medalist".
Just today, stunning news spread through the UCLA mathematics community—
Two high school students, Aayush Bathija and Prince Rohatgi, under the guidance of a postdoctoral researcher, have solved a problem that mathematician June Huh never managed to crack.
Even more eye-catching is that this proof was completed with heavy assistance from AI!
One was Claude Opus 5, the other GPT-5.6 Sol.
Currently, the paper titled "Bounded Ratios for Lorentzian Polynomials" has been published on arXiv, spanning 75 pages.
The names of the two high school students and one postdoc are written right there in the author list.
The high school students' mentor, UCLA Postdoctoral Fellow Daniel Soskin
So, what problem exactly did they solve in this research?
To clarify this, we must first start with the work of Fields Medalist June Huh.
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