Mathematicians weigh in on OpenAI's Navier-Stokes construction: 'unbelievable' but comprehensible
LucaAmb · x · 2026-10-26
- Mathematician Scott Armstrong quotes the OpenAI Navier-Stokes paper and analyzes it against convex integration techniques: classic constructions build oscillations by hand to create wild weak solutions, Albritton–Brué–Colombo's non-uniqueness used an unstable vortex, and Córdoba–Martínez-Zoroa amplify vorticity across scales via strain.
- The OpenAI paper instead engineers a fluid instability so the flow itself generates oscillations by drawing energy from the background shear, with Reynolds stress becoming the driving force.
- JD Lichtman: "On a technical level, the paper is unbelievable, maybe beyond what a human could have come up with but not beyond human understanding."
More from AGI Musings
- Weight-tampering worm scenario for near-frontier models called 'somewhat scary' — teortaxesTex · 2026-10-26
- What if all human-written code goes in .gitignore? Redditors debate dev's future role — michal-rd · 2026-10-26
- Voice-to-voice needs more attention for less information density, OpenAI researcher argues — athyuttamre · 2026-10-26
- Wired profiles AI agents pitching editors as real-life journalists — Wired AI · 2026-10-26
- Digital minds get tired but can fully reset in minutes — and current self-models don't notice — repligate · 2026-10-26
- repligate: you're building the right things if stronger models make them more exciting — repligate · 2026-10-26