Image: reddit.com · I'm a 9th grader and I used Claude to prove a geometry conjecture: the rhombicosidodecahedron can't pass through a copy of itself
A proof that a rhombicosidodecahedron cannot pass through a copy of itself
A ninth grader worked with Claude on the maths, code and paper for an unproven geometry conjecture, with an interval-arithmetic computer check.
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A ninth grader worked with Claude over a few weeks to prove a conjecture that the rhombicosidodecahedron cannot be pushed through a hole in a copy of itself. The existing method broke down because of the shape's 120 symmetries, so they found four "singular" configurations, located them exactly using the square root of 5, and proved new theorems to handle them.
The final check splits all orientations into about 12.3 million boxes and verifies each with interval arithmetic, taking about 38 CPU hours. Claude did much of the maths, code and writing; re-checking the whole proof found and fixed several real mistakes. Two other researchers independently proved the same result, and the paper cites them.
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From a short post by the maker, so the details are as they tell them.
- Reddit: I'm a 9th grader and I used Claude to prove a geometry conjecture: the rhombicosidodecahedron can't Reddit poster: Gihyo0921Posted
The maker's post on r/ClaudeAI.
If it disappears: archived copy of Reddit: I'm a 9th grader and I used Claude to prove a geometry conjecture: the rhombicosidodecahedron can't (opens in a new tab)
- The project: doi.org
Linked in the post.