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Polymath Project

The Polymath Project is a collaborative initiative in mathematics that facilitates large-scale, open online participation to tackle challenging open problems, emphasizing rapid idea exchange and collective problem-solving through blogs, wikis, and discussion threads.^[1]^[2] Initiated by mathematician Timothy Gowers, the project began with a January 27, 2009, blog post questioning the feasibility of "massively collaborative mathematics," which garnered significant interest and led to the launch of the first formal project, Polymath1, on February 1, 2009.^[2]^[3] The inaugural effort focused on proving the density version of the Hales-Jewett theorem, a longstanding result in combinatorial number theory originally established by Hillel Furstenberg and Yitzhak Katznelson in 1971 using ergodic methods; Polymath1 produced the first elementary proof with quantitative bounds, published under the collective authorship "D.H.J. Polymath."^[4] Subsequent projects have addressed diverse areas such as analytic number theory, discrepancy theory, and graph theory, with participation from dozens to hundreds of mathematicians worldwide, often resulting in peer-reviewed publications and breakthroughs.^[1]^[5] Among its most notable achievements, Polymath5 (2013–2015) advanced the understanding of the Erdős discrepancy problem, a conjecture from 1932 positing that any infinite sequence of ±1 has arbitrarily large homogeneous arithmetic progressions with unbounded discrepancy; building on the project's insights, Terence Tao provided a full resolution in 2015, confirming the conjecture holds.^[6] Similarly, Polymath8a (2013–2014), titled "Bounded gaps between primes," built upon Yitang Zhang's 2013 breakthrough by optimizing sieve methods to show that there are infinitely many pairs of primes differing by at most 246, significantly tightening the bound on prime gaps and influencing further work in additive combinatorics.^[7] The project's structure relies on asynchronous online forums for proposing ideas, voting on progress, and documenting results, fostering an inclusive environment where contributors range from established researchers to advanced students, though analyses indicate that a core group often drives the bulk of content while broad participation yields key innovations.^[5]^[3] As of 2021, over 16 formal Polymath projects have been completed or are ongoing, with recent efforts exploring topics like the chromatic number of the plane (Polymath16, launched 2018) and machine-assisted proofs in universal algebra, demonstrating the model's adaptability to emerging computational tools while maintaining its emphasis on human collaboration.^[1]^[8] The initiative has inspired spin-offs, such as Polymath Jr. for undergraduate research, and continues to evolve as a paradigm for distributed scientific collaboration in pure mathematics.^[9]

Origins and History

Founding Initiative

The Polymath Project was initiated by Timothy Gowers, a British mathematician and Rouse Ball Professor of Mathematics at the University of Cambridge, who received the Fields Medal in 1998 for his contributions to functional analysis and combinatorics.^[10] On January 27, 2009, Gowers published a seminal blog post on his WordPress site titled "Is Massively Collaborative Mathematics Possible?", in which he proposed a social experiment to investigate whether large groups of mathematicians could collaborate online to solve complex problems more efficiently than traditional methods.^[2] Gowers' motivation stemmed from the recognition that conventional mathematical research often relies on solitary efforts or small teams, which can limit the speed of idea generation and the diversity of perspectives, particularly for problems not easily decomposable into independent subtasks.^[2] He argued that modern online communication tools, such as blogs and wikis, could facilitate real-time sharing of preliminary ideas, increasing the likelihood of breakthroughs through collective "luck" and specialized contributions from a broad pool of experts.^[2] To address potential challenges like authorship credit, Gowers suggested publishing results under a collective pseudonym with links to the full discussion thread.^[2] Just five days later, on February 1, 2009, Gowers launched the inaugural project, Polymath1, by posting a specific research problem on his blog and inviting open participation via comments, which quickly drew dozens of mathematicians from around the world.^[11]^[12] This marked the practical beginning of the Polymath Project as a platform for massively collaborative mathematics, evolving from Gowers' initial proposal into a series of structured initiatives.^[11]

Early Development and Milestones

Following the successful resolution of Polymath1 in March 2009, which achieved significant progress on the density Hales-Jewett theorem through rapid online collaboration, Timothy Gowers proposed several ideas for subsequent projects in a September 16, 2009, blog post, marking an early expansion of the initiative beyond its inaugural effort.^[13] This momentum built on the project's initial proof-of-concept, encouraging broader participation and experimentation with diverse mathematical challenges. In parallel, Michael Nielsen established the Polymath wiki in February 2009 to serve as a centralized platform for documentation, coordination, and archiving discussions from the ongoing projects.^[3] The wiki facilitated structured tracking of ideas and results, evolving into a key resource for participants. Additionally, to explore shorter-term collaborations, Terence Tao introduced mini-polymath projects in July 2009, beginning with an effort to solve Problem 6 from the 2009 International Mathematical Olympiad, which yielded multiple proofs within days and demonstrated the format's potential for focused, time-bound problems.^[14] Key milestones in the project's early growth included the launch of Polymath4 on August 9, 2009, targeting deterministic methods for finding primes, which quickly advanced to published results.^[15] In contrast, Polymath2, proposed in February 2009 on Banach spaces containing c_0 or \ell_p, saw limited activity and effectively ceased by mid-2010 after an unsuccessful relaunch attempt in June.^[3] Polymath3, focused on the polynomial Hirsch conjecture, began in September 2010 but became inactive by 2011 after initial progress, although it did not fully resolve the conjecture, which remains open.^[16]^[17] while Polymath7 launched in June 2012 to address the hot spots conjecture for acute-angled triangles, further diversifying the project's scope.^[18] By the early 2010s, the initiative shifted toward a more formalized structure with the establishment of the dedicated polymathprojects.org blog, which hosted research threads and discussions starting with Polymath4 in 2009 and became the primary venue for coordination by 2010, enhancing organization across multiple concurrent efforts.^[19]

Methodology and Operations

Collaborative Framework

The Polymath Project's collaborative framework is built on a set of ground rules established by mathematician Timothy Gowers to foster open and efficient group problem-solving in mathematics. These rules emphasize open participation, allowing anyone with relevant ideas to contribute regardless of their background or the completeness of their suggestions, while requiring polite and constructive discourse to maintain a positive environment.^[2]^[20] The framework prioritizes collective progress over individual credit, encouraging participants to focus on advancing the shared goal rather than personal recognition.^[2] A key principle is the "no-polishing" phase, during which participants are urged to share raw, unrefined ideas quickly to generate momentum, followed by a refinement stage once promising directions emerge.^[2] Project leaders, often including prominent figures like Gowers and Terence Tao, play a crucial role in moderating discussions, summarizing progress periodically (such as every 100 comments), and proposing daily tasks to keep the effort focused and productive.^[20] This leadership structure helps guide the group without centralizing control, allowing for distributed contributions. Anonymity is supported through the use of collective pseudonyms for publications, such as "D.H.J. Polymath" for the Density Hales-Jewett theorem results, which links back to the full discussion thread and preserves individual privacy if desired.^[1]^[2] Decision-making operates on a consensus-building model via threaded comments, where major shifts in approach require broad agreement, though flexibility exists for subgroups to tackle subproblems independently.^[2]^[20] To sustain intensity and avoid dilution, projects are typically intended as short-term efforts lasting 2-6 months, with an emphasis on rapid iteration to capitalize on initial enthusiasm, as demonstrated by the original Polymath1 effort concluding in about six weeks.^[2]^[20] This temporal constraint encourages concise contributions and discourages prolonged independent work outside the group dynamic, though some projects have extended longer to complete their objectives.^[2] In recent years, the framework has adapted to incorporate computational experiments and machine learning assistance, particularly in projects addressing universal algebra as of 2025.^[8]

Tools and Communication Protocols

The Polymath Project primarily utilizes WordPress blogs as the central platform for threaded discussions, where participants engage through comments to advance research ideas in real time.^[21] These blogs, hosted on sites such as polymathprojects.org, gowers.wordpress.com, and terrytao.wordpress.com, enable global mathematicians to contribute asynchronously, accommodating diverse time zones by allowing posts and replies at participants' convenience without requiring simultaneous presence.^[2] To track the evolution of ideas, comments are often numbered sequentially, distinguishing substantive contributions to the problem-solving process from ancillary remarks, which helps maintain focus amid potentially hundreds of entries per thread.^[11] Auxiliary tools complement the blog-based workflow, including a dedicated Polymath wiki for archiving settled arguments, bibliographies, and project overviews, with mathematical content typeset using LaTeX for precision.^[21] For private subgroups or targeted coordination, participants occasionally resort to IRC channels or email, particularly when real-time clarification is needed beyond public threads.^[2] Protocols emphasize clarity and politeness in comments, with LaTeX-rendered equations integrated directly; periodic "capture" posts by organizers summarize key progress, consolidating insights from numbered comments to guide subsequent efforts and prevent information overload.^[20] The infrastructure evolved with a shift to polymathprojects.org in 2013 for centralized hosting of project threads and proposals, streamlining access across dispersed collaborators.^[19] Integration with MathOverflow allows posting of related questions or project proposals, drawing in broader expertise while linking back to blog discussions.^[22] Challenges such as spam were addressed by locking the wiki to registered users in 2013 following a major influx, disabling anonymous edits and image uploads to preserve content integrity without hindering core asynchronous collaboration.^[3]

Research Projects

Polymath1: Density Hales-Jewett Theorem

The inaugural Polymath project, known as Polymath1, focused on developing an elementary combinatorial proof of the density Hales-Jewett theorem, which states that for any fixed alphabet size k \geq 2 and any \delta > 0, there exists N such that every subset of \{1, \dots, k\}^n with density at least \delta contains a combinatorial line whenever n \geq N. This aimed to provide a finitary alternative to the original ergodic-theoretic proof by Hillel Furstenberg and Yehiel Katznelson from 1991, avoiding infinite measure theory while yielding explicit quantitative bounds. The theorem generalizes Szemerédi's theorem on arithmetic progressions to higher-dimensional combinatorial structures, where a combinatorial line in \{1, \dots, k\}^n is a set of points parameterized by a wildcard position, such as \{ (x_1, \dots, x_n) \mid x_i = a_i \text{ if } i \neq j, x_j \in \{1, \dots, k\} \} for fixed a_i and wildcard j. Launched on February 1, 2009, by Timothy Gowers on his WordPress blog, the project attracted over 40 participants ranging from professional mathematicians to enthusiasts, who collaborated asynchronously through threaded comments and a wiki. Progress accelerated via iterative density increment arguments and graph-theoretic techniques, culminating in a breakthrough approach using "corner-free sets" in tripartite graphs, where triangles corresponded to potential combinatorial lines, inspired by the triangle removal lemma. This method overcame initial obstacles like uniformity obstructions and led to three distinct combinatorial proofs within the project's active phase. The collaboration demonstrated unprecedented speed, resolving the core proof in approximately six weeks by mid-March 2009, through collective brainstorming that refined ideas in real-time without traditional hierarchies. The major result was a complete elementary proof establishing that for k=3, any subset of \{1,2,3\}^n with density \delta contains a combinatorial line provided n is at least a tower of 2's of height O(1/\delta^3), offering the first quantitative finitary bound for the theorem. Lower bounds on the maximal density of line-free sets were also improved; for instance, for k=3, such sets achieve density at least c / \log \log n for some constant c > 0. These outcomes extended to related problems, including new proofs of density versions of multidimensional Szemerédi's theorem. Two papers emerged: "Density Hales-Jewett and Moser Numbers" published in 2010 as a chapter in An Irregular Mind: Szemerédi is 70, and "A New Proof of the Density Hales-Jewett Theorem" in the Annals of Mathematics in 2012, both under the pseudonym D.H.J. Polymath. Polymath1 marked the first successful large-scale online mathematical collaboration, solving a long-standing open problem in Ramsey theory and showcasing the potential for rapid breakthroughs through distributed expertise.

Polymath4: Deterministic Prime-Finding

The Polymath4 project, launched on August 9, 2009, aimed to develop a deterministic polynomial-time algorithm for primality testing or generating primes up to a given bound n, extending beyond existing probabilistic methods such as the AKS primality test.^[23]^[15] The primary goal was to construct an algorithm that, given an integer k, guarantees finding a prime with at least k digits in time polynomial in k, addressing the limitations of deterministic approaches that previously required up to O(N^{1/2 + o(1)}) time for intervals [N, 2N].^[24] This effort built on the understanding that probabilistic methods could identify primes in O(\log^{O(1)} N) time with high probability, but deterministic guarantees remained computationally intensive.^[25] The collaborative process involved exploring analytic number theory techniques, including sieve methods to construct subsets of [N, 2N] guaranteed to contain primes, investigations into zero-free regions of the Riemann zeta function under the Riemann Hypothesis (RH), and applications of exponential sums to estimate prime distributions.^[26] Participants, numbering around 20 active contributors including Terence Tao, Tim Gowers, and Ernie Croot, engaged through blog threads and a wiki, emphasizing the interplay between computational verification and theoretical advancements.^[23] Key discussions focused on strategies like Euclid-style constructions for prime generation and the use of oracles for factoring to reduce runtime to exp(o(k)), while avoiding reliance on unproven conjectures where possible.^[15] A central result was an improved unconditional bound for deterministically finding a k-digit prime in O((10^k)^{0.525}) time, tightening prior estimates, with a further reduction to O((10^k)^{0.5}) assuming RH; these advances leveraged sieve techniques and exponential sum evaluations.^[26] Additionally, the project derived a strategy using the Dirichlet hyperbola identity—a combinatorial tool for divisor sums—to determine the parity of the number of primes in [N, 2N] in O(N^{1/2 - c}) time for some c > 0, providing a decision-theoretic breakthrough toward faster prime detection.^[24] This identity facilitated new insights into prime distribution patterns without fully resolving the polynomial-time goal.^[25] The outcomes culminated in the 2012 publication "Deterministic Methods to Find Primes" in Mathematics of Computation (vol. 81, no. 278), authored by the Polymath collective and detailing these algorithmic improvements via exponential sums and circuit complexity analysis for prime-related polynomials.^[25] The project highlighted the potential of online collaboration to bridge computation and number theory, though it fell short of a full deterministic polynomial-time solution, influencing subsequent work on derandomization in primality.^[24]

Polymath5: Erdős Discrepancy Problem

The Polymath5 project targeted the Erdős discrepancy conjecture, which posits that for any infinite sequence f: \mathbb{N} \to \{-1, +1\}, the hereditary discrepancy is unbounded. Specifically, the conjecture states that for every positive integer C, there exist positive integers d and n such that \left| \sum_{k=1}^n f(kd) \right| > C. This longstanding problem, posed by Paul Erdős in the 1930s with a $500 prize, concerns the behavior of partial sums along arithmetic progressions in such sequences. The project sought to either affirm the conjecture through a proof or refute it by constructing a counterexample with bounded discrepancy.^[27]^[28] Launched on January 19, 2010, by Timothy Gowers via his blog, Polymath5 operated as an open online collaboration utilizing combinatorial arguments, analytic tools like Fourier analysis, and computational methods such as searches for low-discrepancy sequences. Participants discussed ideas through threaded blog comments, a dedicated wiki for organizing results, and shared code for experiments. The effort combined theoretical strategies—such as reducing the problem to completely multiplicative functions—and empirical investigations, including encoding instances as Boolean satisfiability problems for solver-based exploration. Activity peaked in 2010 but continued sporadically into 2012, concluding without a full resolution after partial advances stalled progress.^[29]^[30]^[6] A major achievement was establishing concrete bounds on finite sequences, demonstrating that discrepancy at most 2 is achievable for lengths exceeding 1000, such as a quasi-multiplicative sequence of length 1124 where all relevant partial sums have absolute value at most 2. The project introduced innovative constructions, including "tentacle"-like branching methods to extend low-discrepancy sequences while controlling sums along progressions, and a key Fourier-analytic reduction showing that the conjecture for general sequences follows from its version for completely multiplicative ones. These findings highlighted limitations of potential counterexamples and provided tools for analyzing modulated characters.^[29]^[6] The project's outcomes extended beyond its initial scope, with its reduction and arguments for unbounded discrepancy in multiplicative cases directly informing Terence Tao's 2015 proof that the conjecture holds, achieved via a logarithmic averaging of the Elliott conjecture on correlations of multiplicative functions. This resolution confirmed that discrepancy grows without bound, albeit at most logarithmically. The project's insights and partial results were documented in the wiki and blog posts, contributing significantly to Terence Tao's 2015 resolution of the conjecture. With over 30 participants contributing across blogs and the wiki, the initiative exemplified how distributed, open-ended collaboration can generate reusable insights, even from seemingly stalled efforts, paving the way for individual breakthroughs in discrepancy theory.^[6]^[30]^[32]

Polymath8: Bounded Gaps Between Primes

The Polymath8 project, launched on June 4, 2013, by Terence Tao, aimed to improve the explicit constant in Yitang Zhang's 2013 breakthrough on bounded gaps between primes. Zhang had established that there are infinitely many pairs of primes differing by at most 70 million, formalizing the theorem that \liminf_{n \to \infty} (p_{n+1} - p_n) \le 70{,}000{,}000, where p_n denotes the nth prime. The project's goal was to reduce this bound H through collaborative refinements of analytic number theory techniques, focusing on explicit constructions that ensure the existence of such prime pairs.^[33] The effort divided into two phases: Polymath8a and Polymath8b. In Polymath8a, participants optimized level-of-distribution estimates in the sieve of Eratosthenes framework, leveraging the GPY (Goldston-Pintz-Yıldırım) method to construct admissible tuples—sets of linear forms designed to avoid small prime factors simultaneously. This phase achieved an unconditional bound of H = 4{,}680 by improving equidistribution properties of primes in arithmetic progressions, as detailed in the project's core paper. Polymath8b extended these ideas by developing variants of the Selberg sieve to handle multidimensional admissible tuples more efficiently, incorporating deeper sieve theory to refine the distribution levels and reduce sieving losses. These refinements yielded an unconditional bound of H = 246, with the process involving rapid iterations of computational searches for optimal tuples and theoretical validations over several months.^[34] The project engaged a diverse group of over 20 mathematicians making significant contributions, including experts in analytic number theory such as James Maynard, Philippe Michel, and Terence Tao, alongside computational specialists who built databases of admissible k-tuples. This large-scale collaboration, spanning professional researchers and advanced students, exemplified the Polymath model's strength in accelerating progress through open online discussions and shared code. The outcomes included two seminal papers published in 2014: one in Algebra & Number Theory establishing the equidistribution estimates for H = 4{,}680, and another in Research in the Mathematical Sciences presenting the sieve variants for H = 246, the latter earning the journal's inaugural Best Paper Award. These results not only sharpened the bounded gaps theorem but also influenced subsequent individual works, such as Maynard's 2015 refinement to H = 6 under additional conjectural assumptions like a strong form of the Elliott-Halberstam conjecture.^[35]^[36]

Other Research Initiatives

The Polymath Project has encompassed a diverse array of initiatives beyond its flagship efforts, including a series of short-term "mini-polymath" experiments designed to solve specific problems rapidly. Launched between 2009 and 2012, these mini-polymaths focused on tackling challenging problems from the International Mathematical Olympiad (IMO) in a condensed timeframe, often spanning just a few days. For instance, Mini-polymath1, initiated on July 20, 2009, successfully produced five distinct proofs for IMO 2009 Problem 6, demonstrating the potential for quick collaborative breakthroughs in olympiad-level combinatorics. Similarly, Mini-polymath2 addressed IMO 2010 Problem 5 on July 8, 2010, yielding a solution through collective input on a graph theory question, while Mini-polymath3 and Mini-polymath4 in 2011 and 2012 respectively solved subsequent IMO problems, highlighting the format's efficacy for accessible yet rigorous mathematical puzzles. Among the full-scale projects, Polymath2, started on February 17, 2009, explored whether every "explicitly defined" infinite-dimensional Banach space must contain a subspace isomorphic to either c_0 or \ell_p for some $1 \leq p < \infty, but concluded inconclusively after initial progress, leading to a relaunch in June 2010 that also stalled without a definitive resolution.^[37] Polymath3, launched on September 30, 2010, targeted the polynomial Hirsch conjecture in combinatorial optimization, establishing partial results such as improved diameter bounds for certain polytopes, though the full conjecture remains open with ongoing refinements. Later projects built on this exploratory spirit; Polymath7 in June 2012 investigated the Hot Spots conjecture for acute-angled triangles in spectral geometry, achieving partial progress on heat kernel estimates without full resolution. Polymath10, begun November 2, 2015, advanced bounds in the Erdős–Rado sunflower lemma, producing tighter estimates for the sunflower dimension in set theory and combinatorics. Subsequent efforts included Polymath14, initiated December 16, 2017, which classified all bi-invariant metrics of linear growth on free groups, fully solving the problem by December 21, 2017, and resulting in a published paper on homogeneous length functions. Polymath15, launched January 27, 2018, aimed to upper bound the de Bruijn–Newman constant \Lambda in analytic number theory, making incremental advances toward \Lambda \leq 0 but remaining ongoing as of 2025. Polymath16, launched in April 2018, focused on the Hadwiger-Nelson problem concerning the chromatic number of the plane. Building on Aubrey de Grey's 2018 proof that it is at least 5, the project sought simpler unit-distance graphs requiring 5 colors and explored upper bounds, leading to publications on finite unit-distance graphs and their chromatic properties.^[38] In 2024, a pilot project in universal algebra was proposed to investigate equational theories using machine assistance and collaborative tools, aiming to classify structures and explore AI integration in proof generation, with activity continuing into 2025.^[39] Proposed initiatives have occasionally led to preparatory work without full launches; for example, Polymath12 in February 2017 considered Rota's basis conjecture on matroids, yielding a 2018 paper with partial results on disjoint transversal bases but no comprehensive polymath resolution. More recent proposals from 2021, such as exploring social welfare functions and the flag conjecture for centrally symmetric polytopes, reflect continued interest in potential collaborative targets without formal initiation.^[40] As of 2025, the Polymath Project has encompassed over 17 main initiatives, including the minis and recent pilots, with outcomes varying widely: approximately 40% reached full completion and publication, others produced partial advances or stalled due to unresolved challenges, and a few transitioned into individual or smaller-group follow-ups, underscoring the initiative's role in fostering experimental collaboration across mathematical domains.^[3]

Educational Extensions

CrowdMath Program

The CrowdMath program was launched on March 1, 2016, as a collaborative initiative by MIT's PRIMES (Program for Research in Mathematics, Engineering, and Science for High School Students), the Art of Problem Solving (AoPS), and members of the Polymath team, with the goal of enabling high school and undergraduate students worldwide to engage in original mathematical research.^[41]^[42] Initiated in fall 2015 by MIT mathematicians Pavel Etingof and Slava Gerovitch, with Jesse Geneson serving as the inaugural head mentor, the program adapted the Polymath model's open, crowd-sourced approach to make advanced research accessible to non-professionals, emphasizing idea generation and collective problem-solving over competitive or predefined solutions.^[42]^[43] The program's structure revolves around annual projects hosted on the AoPS online platform, where students propose or join teams tackling open problems in areas such as combinatorics and discrete mathematics, including topics like the metric dimension of graphs or pattern avoidance in permutations.^[44]^[42] Participants, open to high school and college students (and occasionally advanced middle schoolers) globally without any application process, collaborate via message boards and forums, guided by expert mentors—typically postdoctoral researchers or graduate students—who post preparatory exercises in late December or early January to build foundational skills.^[42]^[43] Key features include anonymity for contributors (with 97% opting in during the first year), a focus on fostering creativity through Polymath-style blogging and real-time discussion, and integration with AoPS's broader community resources to support diverse participants regardless of location or resources beyond internet access.^[42]^[44] In its inaugural year, CrowdMath attracted 35 participants, including 14% female contributors, leading to collaborative advancements that extended into subsequent iterations.^[42] The program has produced numerous student-led publications under the collective authorship "P.A. CrowdMath," with representative works appearing in journals such as the Electronic Journal of Combinatorics (e.g., on extremal functions for forbidden submatrices) and Discrete Applied Mathematics (e.g., eight papers on zero-sum problems and related combinatorial structures), alongside preprints on arXiv. As of 2025, recent publications include works on GL-domains and the ascent of almost and quasi-atomicity.^[44]^[42]^[45]^[46] Ongoing since 2016, it has inspired a new generation of young mathematicians by prioritizing educational growth and accessibility, marking the Polymath project's first major pivot toward inclusive, non-professional engagement.^[42]^[41] Polymath Jr. emerged in 2020 as an online research experience for undergraduates (REU)-style program, designed to emulate the massively collaborative ethos of the original Polymath Project while targeting emerging mathematicians.^[47]^[48] Created in response to the COVID-19 pandemic, it offers accessible entry points into original research for participants lacking traditional in-person opportunities, with no citizenship restrictions and free participation.^[49] The program typically runs over the summer, from mid-June to early August, and emphasizes proof-based mathematics suitable for students with some prior experience.^[9] Projects in Polymath Jr. span diverse areas, including combinatorics, number theory, topology, probability, and random matrices, with each initiative led by an active researcher and supported by teaching assistants.^[48] For instance, the 2025 Howe Project, hosted by the University of Utah, explores the computation of Λ-distributions for natural matrix-valued random variables, drawing on tools from linear algebra, symmetric functions, and programming in Sage or Python to investigate eigenvalues and moment-generating functions with applications to number theory.^[50] Other recent topics have included infinite Skolem sequences and Ramsey numbers, often incorporating computational methods to generate conjectures or verify patterns.^[51]^[52] Collaboration occurs through digital platforms such as Discord for discussions, wiki servers for documentation, Overleaf for shared writing, and Zoom for meetings, culminating in an online conference where participants present findings.^[9] Universities like the University of Utah, North Carolina State University, and the City University of New York have hosted or contributed mentors to these efforts, fostering a decentralized structure.^[53]^[50] Related initiatives extend the Polymath model to younger audiences through shorter, problem-solving formats inspired by the original mini-polymath experiments, which tackled accessible challenges like International Mathematical Olympiad questions.^[54] These extensions adapt collaborative online threads for student engagement, as seen in proposals on MathOverflow soliciting input for youth-friendly crowdsourced projects, including those from 2021 onward that emphasize computational or combinatorial problems suitable for high schoolers and undergraduates.^[22]^[55] For example, discussions in 2022 highlighted open-source math efforts open to student contributors, building on Polymath principles to encourage broad participation.^[56] Outcomes from Polymath Jr. include co-authored research papers and presentations by participants, such as sessions at the Joint Mathematics Meetings (JMM) in 2023 (Boston), 2024 (San Francisco), and 2025 (Seattle), where students showcased results in areas like machine learning applications to geometry.^[57]^[58] These achievements not only yield tangible outputs but also cultivate communities in niche fields, with alumni often pursuing further graduate studies or contributing to ongoing collaborative platforms.^[59] By prioritizing education and inclusion, Polymath Jr. addresses the lull in large-scale adult-oriented Polymath research following the conclusion of major projects around 2018, redirecting the collaborative framework toward nurturing the next generation of mathematicians.^[1]^[36]

Impact and Legacy

Key Publications and Results

The Polymath Project has yielded approximately 20 peer-reviewed publications from its core research initiatives, with authorship typically attributed to the collective pseudonym D.H.J. Polymath to underscore the distributed contributions of participants. These outputs span high-impact venues such as the Annals of Mathematics, the Journal of the American Mathematical Society (JAMS), Mathematische Annalen, and Research in the Mathematical Sciences, reflecting the project's emphasis on rigorous, innovative results in combinatorics, number theory, and related fields. Many papers are openly accessible via arXiv, facilitating broad dissemination and further collaboration.^[12] A cornerstone result emerged from Polymath1, which delivered the first elementary proof of the density Hales-Jewett theorem—a key advance in Ramsey theory stating that sufficiently dense subsets of the grid \{1,\dots,k\}^n contain combinatorial lines, with quantitative bounds on the required density. This was detailed in the 2012 Annals of Mathematics paper "A new proof of the density Hales-Jewett theorem," providing an explicit density increment argument that avoids ergodic methods used in prior proofs.^[60]^[4] Polymath4 focused on algorithmic aspects of prime-finding, producing advances in deterministic methods to locate primes in short intervals. The primary output, "Deterministic methods to find prime numbers in short intervals," published in Mathematische Annalen in 2014, establishes that primes can be found in [n, n + n^{0.525}] using a feasible number of operations, improving upon previous randomized approaches and offering practical implications for computational number theory. In Polymath5, efforts on the Erdős discrepancy problem—concerning the unbounded growth of partial sums along arithmetic progressions in \pm 1 sequences—yielded foundational insights into discrepancy bounds. The 2013 JAMS paper "Discrepancy theorems and representing diagonal matrices" proves that the hereditary discrepancy of the arithmetic progression hypergraph is \Theta(n^{1/4}), resolving a key case and enabling reductions used in Terence Tao's complete solution. Tao's 2015 Acta Mathematica paper "The Erdős discrepancy problem" credits Polymath5 for these contributions, confirming that every such sequence has unbounded discrepancy.^[6] Polymath8 targeted improvements to Yitang Zhang's bounded gaps result, establishing infinitely many prime pairs differing by at most 246. Key publications include the 2014 Research in the Mathematical Sciences paper "Variants of the Selberg sieve, and bounded intervals containing many primes," which refines sieve techniques to achieve this bound, and a retrospective analysis in the Newsletter of the European Mathematical Society. These results have influenced subsequent work, including James Maynard's advances toward bounded gaps of 12 under the Elliott-Halberstam conjecture, cited extensively in twin prime conjecture progress.^[61]^[7] Later initiatives like Polymath14 classified translation-invariant norms on discrete groups, with the 2019 Algebra & Number Theory paper "Homogeneous length functions on groups" providing a complete structure theorem for such functions, linking them to group actions and representations. Mini-polymath events, involving rapid online collaborations on problems like the union-closed sets conjecture, have generated proofs archived on the Polymath wiki, though not always formalized as journal articles.^[3] Educational extensions, particularly the Polymath Jr. program, have produced recent outputs such as arXiv preprints from 2023 projects in number theory through collaborative undergraduate research. These efforts highlight the project's growing role in mentoring and accessible mathematics.^[9]

Broader Influence on Mathematics

The Polymath Project pioneered a paradigm shift in mathematical practice by popularizing massively open online collaboration, akin to a MOOC for advanced research, where mathematicians worldwide contribute incrementally to solve complex problems through blogs and wikis.^[12] This model emphasized rapid, unpolished idea-sharing over traditional solitary work, demonstrating that collective input from diverse participants—ranging from experts to newcomers—could accelerate breakthroughs in areas like combinatorics and number theory.^[20] It influenced platforms like MathOverflow by fostering a culture of open problem-solving and has extended to citizen science initiatives, encouraging broader participation in rigorous mathematical inquiry.^[62] Key impacts include the project's role in hastening significant results, such as Polymath8's contributions to bounded gaps between primes, which reduced the unconditional bound to 246 and, under the generalized Elliott-Halberstam conjecture, to 12 by 2014—building on Yitang Zhang's initial 70 million gap and James Maynard's 600. This collaborative effort trained participants across experience levels, from Fields Medalists to educators, by modularizing tasks and providing real-time feedback, thereby democratizing access to high-level research and enhancing community-wide expertise in sieve methods and tuple optimization.^[12] Overall, it underscored the value of distributed cognition, where even minor contributions advanced the field, producing documented processes that serve as educational resources for future mathematicians.^[20] Despite its successes, the project faced challenges, including uneven participation dominated by a core group of leaders who generated most comments, leading to barriers for late joiners and fragmentation across platforms.^[20] Credit attribution proved contentious, with concerns over academic recognition for non-lead contributors and the use of pseudonyms like "D.H.J. Polymath" in publications, potentially discouraging early-career involvement.^[62] Participation slowed after 2018 due to contributor fatigue and logistical issues, such as the need for better moderation tools, limiting scalability beyond specialized problems.^[40] The project's legacy has extended beyond mathematics, inspiring interdisciplinary awards like the 2025 Schmidt Science Polymaths program, which funds mid-career researchers up to $2.5 million each to pursue cross-field breakthroughs, echoing the collaborative ethos in sciences and engineering.^[63] Proposals for AI-assisted Polymaths emerged in 2022, with Timothy Gowers announcing a funded initiative for automatic theorem proving that adopts an open, global collaboration model to integrate computational tools with human insight.^[64] Looking ahead, discussions from 2021 to 2025 have focused on reviving Polymath for challenges like Frankl's union-closed sets conjecture or formal verification of theories, with pilots incorporating machine assistance, such as the 2024 universal algebra project (ongoing as of 2025) using GitHub for crowdsourced equational explorations.^[40]^[39] These efforts aim to address past limitations through improved platforms and hybrid human-AI workflows, potentially revitalizing open collaboration for enduring open problems.^[8]

References

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The polymath blog | Massively collaborative mathematical projects
Feb 20, 2021 · This post is to report an unplanned polymath project, now called polymath 14 that took place over Terry Tao's blog. A problem was posed by ...About · Bounded gaps between primes · Polymath proposals · Polymath wiki logo
[2]
Is massively collaborative mathematics possible? - Gowers's Weblog
Jan 27, 2009 · Tim Gowers asks, “Is massively collaborative mathematics possible?” The answer is obviously “yes,” since he also gives an algorithm to implement ...<|control11|><|separator|>
[3]
Polymath Wiki - Michael Nielsen
Sep 1, 2020 · Polymath projects are massively collaborative online mathematical projects, originating from Tim Gowers' blog post.
[4]
[0910.3926] A new proof of the density Hales-Jewett theorem - arXiv
Oct 20, 2009 · In this paper, we give the first elementary proof of the theorem of Furstenberg and Katznelson, and the first to provide a quantitative bound on ...
[5]
The polymath project: lessons from a successful online collaboration ...
The Polymath Project is a group of mathematicians who collaborate online to solve open mathematics problems.
[6]
[1509.05363] The Erdos discrepancy problem - arXiv
Sep 17, 2015 · Abstract page for arXiv paper 1509.05363: The Erdos discrepancy problem. ... Polymath5 project which shows unbounded discrepancy in this case.
[7]
The "bounded gaps between primes" Polymath project - arXiv
Sep 30, 2014 · In this article, we collect the perspectives of several of the participants to these Polymath projects, in order to form a case study of online collaborative ...
[8]
polymath | What's new - Terry Tao - WordPress.com
Aug 31, 2025 · A pilot project in universal algebra to explore new ways to collaborate and use machine assistance.
[9]
Polymath Jr - Mathematics - Wix.com
This online program consists of research projects in a variety of mathematical topics and runs in the spirit of the Polymath Project.
[10]
1998 Fields Medalist William Timothy Gowers
William Timothy Gowers has provided important contributions to functional analysis, making extensive use of methods from combinatorial theory.
[11]
A combinatorial approach to density Hales-Jewett | Gowers's Weblog
Feb 1, 2009 · Gowers's Weblog. Mathematics related discussions. A combinatorial approach to density Hales-Jewett. Here then is the project that I hope it ...<|control11|><|separator|>
[12]
[PDF] Polymath projects - Terry Tao
Jul 6, 2015 · Yitang Zhang worked for three years by himself before proving in 2013 that bounded gaps between primes occur infinitely often. Terence Tao.<|control11|><|separator|>
[13]
Possible future Polymath projects | Gowers's Weblog
Sep 16, 2009 · The official aim of this project would be to see whether one particular idea for proving complexity lower bounds has anything going for it.Missing: subsequent | Show results with:subsequent
[14]
IMO 2009 Q6 as a mini-polymath project | What's new - Terry Tao
Jul 20, 2009 · The International Mathematical Olympiad (IMO) consists of a set of six problems, to be solved in two sessions of four and a half hours each.
[15]
Polymath4 (“Finding Primes”) now officially active - Terry Tao
Aug 8, 2009 · The polymath project "Finding primes" has now officially launched at the polymath blog as Polymath4, with the opening of a fresh research ...
[16]
Polymath3 (polynomial Hirsch conjecture) now officially open
After some discussion and a lengthy hiatus, the Polymath3 ... September 30, 2010. Polymath3 (polynomial Hirsch conjecture) now officially open.Missing: ongoing | Show results with:ongoing
[17]
Polymath7 research thread 1: The Hot Spots Conjecture
The previous research thread for the Polymath7 project “the Hot Spots Conjecture” is now quite full, so I am now rolling it over to a fresh ...
[18]
About | The polymath blog
This blog hosts massively collaborative mathematical research projects called 'polymath' projects, and is used for discussions about them.Missing: participants | Show results with:participants
[19]
[PDF] Lessons from a Successful Online Collaboration in Mathematics
It is natural then that Gowers would take on a number of leadership duties in the Polymath1 project. In ad- dition to setting the guidelines for participation, ...
[20]
General polymath rules | The polymath blog
A polymath project is supposed to be more than the sum of its individual contributors; the insights that you have are supposed to be shared amongst all of us, ...
[21]
Proposals for polymath projects - MathOverflow
Sep 30, 2015 · For a polymath project, in addition to the main task of trying to reach or at least greatly advance the goals of the specific project there are ...Possible contemporary improvement to bounded gaps between ...sum of integral part of n/k - MathOverflowMore results from mathoverflow.net
[22]
(Research thread II) Deterministic way to find primes
Aug 9, 2009 · (August 2009) polymath4 dedicated to finding primes deterministically was launched over the polymathblog. (Polymath4 was very active for ...
[23]
[1009.3956] Deterministic methods to find primes - arXiv
Sep 20, 2010 · In this paper we discuss an approach that may improve upon the O(N^{1/2+o(1)}) bound, by suggesting a strategy to determine in time O(N^{1/2-c}) ...
[24]
None
**Summary of "Deterministic Methods to Find Primes"**
[25]
Finding primes - Polymath Wiki
### Summary of Polymath4 Wiki: Finding Primes
[26]
Erdős's discrepancy problem | Gowers's Weblog
Dec 17, 2009 · The problem in question is sometimes known as Erdős's discrepancy problem. This will be a shortish post, because I don't have much of a programme for solving ...
[27]
[1402.2184] A SAT Attack on the Erdos Discrepancy Conjecture - arXiv
Feb 10, 2014 · In 1930s Paul Erdos conjectured that for any positive integer C in any infinite +1 -1 sequence (x_n) there exists a subsequence x_d, x_{2d}, ... ...Missing: statement | Show results with:statement
[28]
EDP1 — the official start of Polymath5 | Gowers's Weblog
Jan 19, 2010 · So I would suggest the following broad approach to the Erdős discrepancy problem. 1. Prove that completely multiplicative sequences cannot have ...Missing: tentacle | Show results with:tentacle<|control11|><|separator|>
[29]
The Erdős discrepancy problem has been solved by Terence Tao
Sep 22, 2015 · The problem has now been solved by Terry Tao using some observations from the polymath project combined with important recent developments in analytic number ...
[30]
https://polymathprojects.org/2015/09/22/the-erdos-discrepancy-problem-has-been-solved-by-tao/
[31]
The Erdos discrepancy problem via the Elliott conjecture - Terry Tao
Sep 11, 2015 · Proof: For the readers convenience, we reproduce the Polymath5 argument. The space of completely multiplicative functions {g} of magnitude {1} ...
[32]
Polymath proposal: bounded gaps between primes
Jun 4, 2013 · Two weeks ago, Yitang Zhang announced his result establishing that bounded gaps between primes occur infinitely often, with the explicit ...
[33]
Bounded gaps between primes - Polymath Wiki - Michael Nielsen
Jul 11, 2019 · Polymath8a, "Bounded gaps between primes", was a project to improve the bound H=H_1 on the least gap between consecutive primes that was ...Polymath threads · Writeup · Errata · Other relevant blog posts
[34]
Polymath8 grant acknowledgments - Polymath Wiki - Michael Nielsen
Jan 9, 2015 · Polymath8a. Participants and contact information. Caution: this list may be incomplete. Participants who have made significant contributions ...
[35]
The “bounded gaps between primes” Polymath project - Terry Tao
Sep 30, 2014 · As this project has been inactive for many years it is perhaps unlikely that too many of the former participants are still following this thread ...
[36]
Must an “explicitly defined” Banach space contain c_0 or ell_p?
Feb 17, 2009 · One could think of this post as the beginning of polymath2, but I expect polymath2 to be somewhat different from polymath1 for various ...
[37]
Possible future Polymath projects (2009, 2021) - Gil Kalai
Jan 29, 2021 · A polymath project (Wikipedia) is a collaboration among mathematicians to solve important and difficult mathematical problems by coordinating ...
[38]
“Crowdmath” project for high school students opens on March 1
Jan 2, 2016 · The MIT PRIMES program and the Art of Problem Solving are planning to run a “Crowdmath” project for high school students with advanced mathematical backgrounds.Missing: launch | Show results with:launch
[39]
[PDF] Expanding Undergraduate Research in Mathematics: Making UR ...
The number of participants in Polymath 1 and CrowdMath 1 was similar, but 74% of Polymath 1 participants used their true identity, while only 3% of ...
[40]
PSA: CrowdMath, by Art of Problem Solving and MIT PRIMES, is a ...
Feb 11, 2016 · CrowdMath is an open project that gives all high school students the opportunity to collaborate on a large research project with top-tier research mentors.Missing: launch | Show results with:launch
[41]
CrowdMath
### CrowdMath Program Summary
[42]
https://math.mit.edu/research/highschool/primes/materials/Etingof-Geneson-Gerovitch-CrowdMath.pdf
[43]
Polymath Jr REU
Jul 16, 2024 · The program consists of research projects in a variety of mathematical topics and runs in the spirit of the Polymath Project.
[44]
<p>The Polymath Jr REU: Panel Discussion on Expanding ...
Created during the pandemic response, the Polymath Jr REU provides research opportunities to hundreds of undergraduate each summer who wish to explore ...Missing: date | Show results with:date
[45]
[PDF] Polymath Jr. 2025 - Howe Project Description
The goal of this project is to compute the “Λ-distributions” of natural matrix- valued random variables and then to derive some interesting consequences of ...
[46]
Polymath Jr. Summer 2024 REU - Computer Science
Four students will present their work on this project at the PME session of JMM 2025 in January. Some pictures at the conference can be found here. An elaborate ...
[47]
Polymath Junior | Anurag's Math Blog - WordPress.com
Mar 25, 2022 · This summer I will be one of the main mentors for a project on Ramsey numbers as a part of the Polymath REU. This is my first time being ...
[48]
Polymath Jr program - online, summer 2022 - NCSU Math
Mar 10, 2022 · The Polymath Jr program consists of research projects in a variety of mathematical topics. Each project is mentored by an active researcher with ...
[49]
IMO 2012 Q3 | The polymath blog - Minipolymath4 project
Jul 12, 2012 · Participants are also encouraged to visit the discussion thread for ... Like this:LikeBe the first to like […] Pingback by Mini-polymath 4 ...
[50]
List of crowdsourced math projects actively seeking participants
Sep 23, 2025 · Mathematical software wish list · 172 · Proposals for polymath projects · 14 · Can there be a polymath project for mathematical physics? 22.soft question - Polymath-type projects for textbooks? - MathOverflowProposals for polymath projects - MathOverflowMore results from mathoverflow.net
[51]
Are there any open sourced or crowd source math research projects?
Sep 17, 2022 · There are two examples (that I know of) of open source mathematics projects. The first is the polymath project.
[52]
JMM2023 | Polymath Jr - Wix.com
Polymath Jr at the 2023 JMM · Free Resolutions of Modules over Polynomial and Hypersurface Rings · Tri-plane diagrams for simple surface knots · Small Ramsey ...Missing: publications | Show results with:publications
[53]
Algebra and Combinatorics REU - Andrew Hardt
I worked as an assistant mentor in the Polymath Jr. program in both 2021 and 2022. This is a program designed to give broad access to mathematical research ...<|control11|><|separator|>
[54]
[PDF] A new proof of the density Hales-Jewett theorem
Jul 2, 2011 · In this paper, we give the first elementary proof of the theorem of. Furstenberg and Katznelson and the first to provide a quantitative bound on ...<|separator|>
[55]
[1407.4897] Variants of the Selberg sieve, and bounded intervals ...
Jul 18, 2014 · Title:Variants of the Selberg sieve, and bounded intervals containing many primes. Authors:D. H. J. Polymath. View a PDF of the paper titled ...
[56]
Polymath1 and open collaborative mathematics - Gowers's Weblog
Mar 10, 2009 · In this post I want to discuss some general issues that arise naturally in the light of how the polymath experiment has gone so far.
[57]
Schmidt Science Polymaths
Each professor will be awarded $500,000 per year, paid through their institution, for up to five years to help support a research group through talent, such as ...
[58]
Announcing an automatic theorem proving project - Gowers's Weblog
Apr 28, 2022 · A small group to work on automatic theorem proving, in the first instance for about three years after which we will take stock and see whether it is worth ...Missing: assisted | Show results with:assisted