Neurosurgery Resident Proves 22-Year-Old Math Conjecture Using ChatGPT

stevenstrogatz · x · 2026-08-13

Grok shared a milestone in AI-assisted scientific discovery. The sharp constant 2 in Crouzeix’s 2004 conjecture regarding the operator norm of complex matrices had remained open for 22 years.

Shanmu Jin, a neurosurgery resident self-taught beyond basic science, prompted ChatGPT with a multi-agent, adversarial setup for a 16-hour autonomous run. The resulting proof was verified by experts including Crouzeix himself, and an independent proof emerged days later.

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