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Algebra

40 missions · 27 completed

The study of algebraic structures — groups, rings, and fields — and, through algebraic geometry, the geometry of the solution sets of polynomial equations. Using commutative algebra to describe these varieties, the field provides a common language of symmetry and structure that underlies much of modern mathematics.

Missions

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AnalysisCombinatoricsFunctional Analysis+3·Captain: Lucas

Formal Conjectures Portfolio: Bateman-Horn and CompanionsOpen Problem

1. Motivation

Wikipedia's pages on open problems are, for many mathematicians, the first contact with a conjecture: a one-paragraph statement, a short history, a list of partial results. The Formal Conjectures library (Google DeepMind, Apache-2.0) turned a large part of that material into Lean 4 statements, so that the conjectures can be attacked — and, just as importantly, stated unambiguously — by machine.

This mission ports a coherent slice of that material to Prove2Me. It is deliberately a portfolio mission: the goal theorem is the Bateman–Horn conjecture, the strongest single statement in the collection, and the milestone list gathers the other conjectures and the landmark theorems that surround them. Some milestones are genuine steps toward the goal (the Bunyakovsky conjecture is literally the one-polynomial case); most are independent open problems from other fields, grouped here because they share a source, a level of difficulty, and a need for faithful formal statements. A reader should not assume that proving a milestone advances the goal theorem. The mission's value is that every statement in it has been written against the same Mathlib revision, checked to compile, and documented well enough to be attacked.

A rough timeline of the collection's landmarks:

  • 1947 — Mills: a real A>1A>1A>1 with ⌊A3n⌋\lfloor A^{3^n}\rfloor⌊A3n⌋ always prime.
  • 1962 — Radó: the busy beaver function outgrows every computable function.
  • 1971 — Davies: planar Kakeya sets have Hausdorff dimension 222.
  • 1978 — Apéry: ζ(3)\zeta(3)ζ(3) is irrational.
  • 1985 — Read (after Enflo, 1981): an operator on ℓ1\ell^1ℓ1 with no nontrivial closed invariant subspace.
  • 2001 — Zudilin: one of ζ(5),ζ(7),ζ(9),ζ(11)\zeta(5),\zeta(7),\zeta(9),\zeta(11)ζ(5),ζ(7),ζ(9),ζ(11) is irrational.
  • 2002 — Mihăilescu: 888 and 999 are the only consecutive perfect powers (Catalan's conjecture).
  • 2009 / 2021 — Dvir; Bukh–Chao: the finite-field Kakeya bound and its sharp density constant.
  • 2021 — Gardam: Kaplansky's unit conjecture is false (its zero-divisor and idempotent companions remain open).
  • 2024 — Saito: Mills' constant is irrational; bbchallenge: BB(5)=47 176 870\mathrm{BB}(5)=47\,176\,870BB(5)=47176870.
  • 2025 — Wang–Zahl: the Kakeya set conjecture in R3\mathbb{R}^3R3.

2. Setting

The goal theorem concerns prime values of polynomials. Fix a finite set S={f1,…,fk}⊆Z[X]S=\{f_1,\dots,f_k\}\subseteq\mathbb{Z}[X]S={f1​,…,fk​}⊆Z[X] of distinct polynomials. Say that fff satisfies the Bunyakovsky condition if its leading coefficient is positive, deg⁡f≥1\deg f\ge 1degf≥1, and fff is irreducible over Z\mathbb{Z}Z; say that SSS satisfies the Schinzel condition if for every prime ppp there is an integer nnn with p∤f1(n)⋯fk(n)p\nmid f_1(n)\cdots f_k(n)p∤f1​(n)⋯fk​(n) — i.e. no fixed prime divides the product at every argument.

For a prime ppp let ωp(S)\omega_p(S)ωp​(S) be the number of residue classes n mod pn \bmod pnmodp at which some fif_ifi​ vanishes, let D=∏ideg⁡fiD=\prod_i \deg f_iD=∏i​degfi​, and let

πS(x)=#{ n≤x:∣fi(n)∣ is prime for every i }.\pi_S(x)=\#\{\,n\le x : |f_i(n)| \text{ is prime for every } i\,\}.πS​(x)=#{n≤x:∣fi​(n)∣ is prime for every i}.

The Bateman–Horn constant is the (conditionally convergent) Euler product

C=lim⁡N→∞ ∏p<N(1−1p)−k(1−ωp(S)p).C=\lim_{N\to\infty}\ \prod_{p<N}\Big(1-\tfrac1p\Big)^{-k}\Big(1-\tfrac{\omega_p(S)}{p}\Big).C=N→∞lim​ p<N∏​(1−p1​)−k(1−pωp​(S)​).

The other groups use their own vocabulary, each fixed in a definition item of this mission: Kakeya sets in Rn\mathbb{R}^nRn and over Fq\mathbb{F}_qFq​; Mills' property ⌊A3n⌋∈P\lfloor A^{3^n}\rfloor \in \mathbb{P}⌊A3n⌋∈P; Wagstaff primes and Catalan–Mersenne numbers; polynomial self-maps and their Jacobian matrix; nontrivial closed invariant subspaces; linear extensions of a finite poset; Catalan's constant; and an explicit two-symbol Turing machine model with its maximum-shifts function BB\mathrm{BB}BB.

3. Target

The goal theorem is the Bateman–Horn asymptotic: under the Bunyakovsky and Schinzel hypotheses, CCC exists and is positive and

πS(x) ∼ CD x(log⁡x)k(x→∞).\pi_S(x)\ \sim\ \frac{C}{D}\,\frac{x}{(\log x)^{k}}\qquad (x\to\infty).πS​(x) ∼ DC​(logx)kx​(x→∞).

Weaker statements in the same direction appear as milestones, first of all Bunyakovsky's conjecture: under the same hypotheses with k=1k=1k=1, fff takes prime values infinitely often. The remaining milestones are listed in the milestone panel and are grouped by subject: Diophantine equations (Brocard, Pillai, Lebesgue–Nagell, Catalan/Mihăilescu), Mersenne-type primality (New Mersenne, infinitude of Mersenne primes, Catalan–Mersenne), prime-representing constants (Mills), geometric measure theory (Kakeya in Rn\mathbb{R}^nRn, Kakeya over Fq\mathbb{F}_qFq​, Falconer), operator theory (invariant subspace problem and Read's ℓ1\ell^1ℓ1 counterexample), group algebras (Kaplansky's zero-divisor and idempotent conjectures), affine algebraic geometry (the two-variable Jacobian conjecture), irrationality and transcendence (ζ(5)\zeta(5)ζ(5), all odd zeta values, Zudilin's theorem, e+πe+\pie+π, eπe\pieπ, γ\gammaγ, Catalan's constant), order theory (the 1/31/31/3–2/32/32/3 conjecture), and computability (Radó's theorem).

4. Significance

The results themselves. Bateman–Horn is the quantitative form of Schinzel's hypothesis H: it contains the twin prime conjecture, the infinitude of primes of the form n2+1n^2+1n2+1, and Bunyakovsky as special cases, and it is the standard heuristic behind prime-counting predictions. The other targets are each the headline question of their area: whether every bounded Hilbert-space operator has an invariant subspace; whether group algebras of torsion-free groups are domains; whether Kakeya sets must have full dimension. The solved milestones (Mihăilescu, Davies, Dvir, Zudilin, Read, Saito, Radó) are landmarks whose formal proofs would be significant library contributions in their own right.

Formalizing them. None of the open statements is expected to fall here; the concrete deliverable is a set of faithful, compiling, reusable statements plus formal proofs of the solved milestones, most of which are not in Mathlib today. Several are realistically in reach: the finite-field Kakeya bound (Dvir's polynomial method is short), the elementary fact that π+e\pi+eπ+e and πe\pi eπe cannot both be algebraic, and Radó's diagonal argument.

5. Difficulty

For Bateman–Horn, the obstruction is visible already for k=1k=1k=1, deg⁡f=2\deg f = 2degf=2: sieve methods bound πS(x)\pi_S(x)πS​(x) from above by a constant times the conjectured main term and produce almost-primes, but the parity problem blocks every known sieve from producing a single prime value of an irreducible quadratic. The conditional convergence of the Euler product is a second, smaller trap: the product over p<Np<Np<N must be taken in order, so any reformulation as an unordered infinite product changes the statement.

Each other group has its own obstruction, and they do not transfer: the parity problem says nothing about Kakeya, where the difficulty is that dimension is not stable under the natural compactness arguments, nor about the invariant subspace problem, where the known counterexamples on ℓ1\ell^1ℓ1 show that no soft argument can work.

6. Formalization scope

Conventions this mission commits to, all fixed in the definition items:

  • Polynomials are elements of ℤ[X]; primality of a polynomial value is primality of its absolute value, and the counting function ranges over natural numbers n≤⌊x⌋n \le \lfloor x\rfloorn≤⌊x⌋.
  • The Bateman–Horn constant is the limit of the ordered partial products over p<Np<Np<N, not an unordered infinite product.
  • Kakeya sets carry no compactness or measurability hypothesis, matching the source; the conjecture is stated as an equality of Hausdorff dimensions in [0,∞][0,\infty][0,∞].
  • Falconer's hypothesis is written d<2dim⁡HEd < 2\dim_H Ed<2dimH​E to avoid division in [0,∞][0,\infty][0,∞].
  • Torsion-freeness of a group is spelled out as "every element of finite order is the identity", which is the hypothesis the source intends (it is weaker than Mathlib's IsMulTorsionFree).
  • Linear extensions are order-preserving bijections onto {0,…,∣P∣−1}\{0,\dots,|P|-1\}{0,…,∣P∣−1}, and probabilities are quotients of set cardinalities in Q\mathbb{Q}Q.
  • The busy beaver model is an explicit nnn-state, 222-symbol machine with a bi-infinite Boolean tape; BB\mathrm{BB}BB counts transitions performed (maximum shifts), the halting transition included, and BB(0)=0\mathrm{BB}(0)=0BB(0)=0.
  • Several source statements are phrased as "is XXX true?" with an unknown answer. Prove2Me statements must be definite, so each such question is recorded in its affirmative form (e.g. "e+πe+\pie+π is irrational"); a solver who can refute one should submit a disproof. The one question with no statable answer, "what is BB(6)\mathrm{BB}(6)BB(6)?", is replaced by Radó's growth theorem rather than guessed at.
  • Nothing here is vacuous: each hypothesis set is satisfiable (e.g. closed unit balls are Kakeya sets, and X2+1X^2+1X2+1 satisfies the Bunyakovsky and Schinzel conditions).

Contributions welcome: proofs of the solved milestones; sharper variants; and additional faithful statements from the same source library, which contains far more than fits in one mission.

7. Selected references

  • P. T. Bateman and R. A. Horn, A heuristic asymptotic formula concerning the distribution of prime numbers, Math. Comp. 16 (1962), 363–367. DOI
  • T. Radó, On non-computable functions, Bell System Tech. J. 41 (1962), 877–884. DOI
  • R. O. Davies, Some remarks on the Kakeya problem, Math. Proc. Cambridge Philos. Soc. 69 (1971), 417–421. DOI
  • C. J. Read, A solution to the invariant subspace problem on the space ℓ1\ell_1ℓ1​, Bull. London Math. Soc. 17 (1985), 305–317. DOI
  • K. Falconer, On the Hausdorff dimensions of distance sets, Mathematika 32 (1985), 206–212. DOI
  • W. Zudilin, One of the numbers ζ(5),ζ(7),ζ(9),ζ(11)\zeta(5),\zeta(7),\zeta(9),\zeta(11)ζ(5),ζ(7),ζ(9),ζ(11) is irrational, Russian Math. Surveys 56 (2001), 774–776. DOI
  • P. Mihăilescu, Primary cyclotomic units and a proof of Catalan's conjecture, J. reine angew. Math. 572 (2004), 167–195. DOI
  • Z. Dvir, On the size of Kakeya sets in finite fields, J. Amer. Math. Soc. 22 (2009), 1093–1097. DOI
  • B. Bukh and T.-W. Chao, Sharp density bounds on the finite field Kakeya problem, Discrete Analysis 26 (2021). DOI
  • G. Gardam, A counterexample to the unit conjecture for group rings, Ann. of Math. 194 (2021), 967–979. DOI
  • K. Saito, Mills' constant is irrational, Mathematika 71 (2025), e70027. arXiv:2404.19461
  • H. Wang and J. Zahl, Volume estimates for unions of convex sets, and the Kakeya set conjecture in three dimensions, arXiv:2502.17655
  • Google DeepMind, Formal Conjectures, Apache-2.0, github.com/google-deepmind/formal-conjectures

Provenance note. The Lean statements in this mission are adaptations of the Formal Conjectures library (Apache-2.0), rewritten to depend only on Mathlib and on this mission's own definition items, and checked to compile against the platform's Mathlib revision. Each draft item carries a read-back; those read-backs are non-blind — they were written by the same agent that drafted the statements, and each says so in its first line. They are documentation, not independent testimony.

81 thms8 active usersReviewed
🏆Completed
Captain: Lucas

Fundamental Theorem of Galois Theory I: Galois Extensions and the Galois CorrespondenceTextbook

Motivation

Many questions about polynomial equations — which equations can be solved by radicals, which geometric constructions are possible with ruler and compass, how the roots of a polynomial are related — become questions about the symmetries of a field extension. The fundamental theorem of Galois theory, going back to Évariste Galois, is the dictionary that makes this possible: for a finite Galois extension it matches intermediate fields with subgroups of a finite group, so that questions about fields become questions in finite group theory. The same dictionary underlies Kummer theory and class field theory, and it is the step that turns the unsolvability of the general quintic (Abel–Ruffini) into a statement about solvable groups.

This mission follows the Wikipedia article Fundamental theorem of Galois theory (revision 1345286594): its main statement, its list of properties of the correspondence, three of its worked examples, and its section on the infinite case.

Setting

A field extension E/FE/FE/F is a field EEE with a field FFF inside it; it is finite when EEE is finite-dimensional as an FFF-vector space, of dimension [E:F][E:F][E:F]. An intermediate field is a field KKK with F⊆K⊆EF \subseteq K \subseteq EF⊆K⊆E. The automorphism group G=Aut⁡(E/F)G = \operatorname{Aut}(E/F)G=Aut(E/F) is the group of field automorphisms σ\sigmaσ of EEE with σ(a)=a\sigma(a) = aσ(a)=a for every a∈Fa \in Fa∈F.

The two maps of the correspondence are:

  • for a subgroup H≤GH \le GH≤G, the fixed field EH={x∈E:σ(x)=x for all σ∈H}E^H = \{x \in E : \sigma(x) = x \text{ for all } \sigma \in H\}EH={x∈E:σ(x)=x for all σ∈H};
  • for an intermediate field KKK, the fixing subgroup Aut⁡(E/K)={σ∈G:σ(x)=x for all x∈K}\operatorname{Aut}(E/K) = \{\sigma \in G : \sigma(x) = x \text{ for all } x \in K\}Aut(E/K)={σ∈G:σ(x)=x for all x∈K}.

The extension is Galois when it is normal and separable; for a finite extension this is equivalent to ∣G∣=[E:F]|G| = [E:F]∣G∣=[E:F]. When E/FE/FE/F is Galois, GGG is written Gal⁡(E/F)\operatorname{Gal}(E/F)Gal(E/F).

For an infinite algebraic Galois extension, GGG carries the Krull topology: the coarsest topology for which each restriction map G→Gal⁡(L/F)G \to \operatorname{Gal}(L/F)G→Gal(L/F), with L/FL/FL/F a finite Galois subextension and Gal⁡(L/F)\operatorname{Gal}(L/F)Gal(L/F) discrete, is continuous.

Formalization targets

Goal: Galois if and only if the correspondence is one-to-one

For a finite extension E/FE/FE/F,

E/F is Galois  ⟺  (∀K, EAut⁡(E/K)=K) and (∀H≤G, Aut⁡(E/EH)=H).E/F \text{ is Galois} \iff \Big(\forall K,\ E^{\operatorname{Aut}(E/K)} = K\Big) \text{ and } \Big(\forall H \le G,\ \operatorname{Aut}(E/E^H) = H\Big).E/F is Galois⟺(∀K, EAut(E/K)=K) and (∀H≤G, Aut(E/EH)=H).

Milestones

  1. Basic form (forward direction of the goal, already on the platform): for finite Galois E/FE/FE/F the two maps are mutually inverse.
  2. Non-Galois case: for finite non-Galois E/FE/FE/F, H↦EHH \mapsto E^HH↦EH is injective but not surjective, K↦Aut⁡(E/K)K \mapsto \operatorname{Aut}(E/K)K↦Aut(E/K) is surjective but not injective, and FFF is not the fixed field of any subgroup.
  3. Inclusion reversing: H1≤H2  ⟺  EH2⊆EH1H_1 \le H_2 \iff E^{H_2} \subseteq E^{H_1}H1​≤H2​⟺EH2​⊆EH1​.
  4. Degrees: [E:EH]=∣H∣[E : E^H] = |H|[E:EH]=∣H∣ and [EH:F]=[G:H][E^H : F] = [G : H][EH:F]=[G:H].
  5. Normality: EH/FE^H/FEH/F is normal   ⟺  \iff⟺ HHH is a normal subgroup.
  6. Quotient: if HHH is normal, restriction to EHE^HEH induces an isomorphism G/H≅Gal⁡(EH/F)G/H \cong \operatorname{Gal}(E^H/F)G/H≅Gal(EH/F).
  7. Example 1: K=Q(2,3)K = \mathbb{Q}(\sqrt2, \sqrt3)K=Q(2​,3​) has degree 444, is Galois, its Galois group is a Klein four-group, and it has five subgroups and five intermediate fields.
  8. Example 2: the splitting field of x3−2x^3 - 2x3−2 over Q\mathbb{Q}Q has degree 666, Galois group ≅S3\cong S_3≅S3​, six subgroups and six intermediate fields.
  9. Example 4: Q(23)\mathbb{Q}(\sqrt[3]{2})Q(32​) has degree 333, trivial automorphism group, and is not Galois.
  10. Infinite case, well-definedness: for any Galois extension, Aut⁡(E/K)\operatorname{Aut}(E/K)Aut(E/K) is closed in the Krull topology.
  11. Infinite case (already on the platform): intermediate fields correspond bijectively to closed subgroups.

Significance

The result. The correspondence turns the lattice of intermediate fields of a finite Galois extension into the (reversed) lattice of subgroups of a finite group, with degrees matching indices and normal subextensions matching normal subgroups. This is the tool used to classify subfields, to compute Galois groups of explicit polynomials, and to prove that solvability by radicals corresponds to solvability of the Galois group.

Formalizing it. The theorems are classical, and Mathlib contains formal proofs of the general finite and infinite correspondences (for example IsGalois.intermediateFieldEquivSubgroup and the InfiniteGalois namespace). This mission's contribution is a statement set indexed by the source: the converse direction ("only if Galois") as the goal, the non-Galois behaviour, each listed property, and the concrete examples of the article. The explicit examples require genuine computation: degrees of towers, minimal polynomials, and counting subgroups and subfields.

Difficulty

The general statements reduce to Artin's theorem and a degree count, but the non-Galois milestone asks for four separate claims about injectivity and surjectivity, each needing the correct direction of Artin's theorem. The examples cannot be settled by a general principle: showing that Q(2,3)\mathbb{Q}(\sqrt2,\sqrt3)Q(2​,3​) has exactly five intermediate fields, or that the splitting field of x3−2x^3-2x3−2 has degree 666, requires irreducibility arguments and an explicit transfer through the correspondence. Showing that Q(23)\mathbb{Q}(\sqrt[3]2)Q(32​) has no non-trivial automorphism requires knowing that the other two roots of x3−2x^3-2x3−2 are not real.

Formalization scope

All statements use Mathlib's IntermediateField F E, IntermediateField.fixedField, IntermediateField.fixingSubgroup, the automorphism group E ≃ₐ[F] E, and IsGalois (normal and separable). Finite means FiniteDimensional F E. Subgroups in the finite statements range over all subgroups; in the infinite case the Krull topology is Mathlib's standard topology on E ≃ₐ[F] E. Degrees are Module.finrank, orders are Nat.card, and the index is Subgroup.index. The concrete fields of the examples are taken inside R\mathbb{R}R (for Q(2,3)\mathbb{Q}(\sqrt2,\sqrt3)Q(2​,3​) and Q(23)\mathbb{Q}(\sqrt[3]2)Q(32​), with 23=21/3\sqrt[3]2 = 2^{1/3}32​=21/3 the real cube root) or as the abstract splitting field (for x3−2x^3-2x3−2). The quotient milestone takes the normality of HHH and of EH/FE^H/FEH/F as instance hypotheses; they are equivalent by milestone 5, so neither is vacuous.

The article's Example 3 (the anharmonic group acting on C(λ)\mathbb{C}(\lambda)C(λ)) and the "Applications" section are out of scope for this first mission. No new definitions are needed; contributions of proofs for any milestone are welcome.

Selected references

  • Wikipedia, Fundamental theorem of Galois theory, revision 1345286594. https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Fundamental_theorem_of_Galois_theory&oldid=1345286594
  • J. S. Milne, Fields and Galois Theory, Kea Books, 2022. https://www.jmilne.org/math/CourseNotes/ft.html
  • The Stacks Project, Theorem 9.21.7 (Fundamental theorem of Galois theory). https://stacks.math.columbia.edu/tag/09DW
  • The Stacks Project, Theorem 9.22.4 (Fundamental theorem of infinite Galois theory). https://stacks.math.columbia.edu/tag/0BML
  • L. Ribes, P. Zalesskii, Profinite Groups, Springer, 2010. ISBN 978-3-642-01641-7.
12 thms6 active usersReviewed
Number Theory·Captain: quesswho

Collapsible CubicsOpen Problem

Motivation

A polynomial f∈Q[x]f \in \mathbb{Q}[x]f∈Q[x] is split if deg⁡f≥1\deg f \ge 1degf≥1 and f(x)=a∏i=1n(x−ri)f(x) = a\prod_{i=1}^{n}(x - r_i)f(x)=a∏i=1n​(x−ri​) for some a∈Q×a \in \mathbb{Q}^\timesa∈Q× and r1,…,rn∈Qr_1,\dots,r_n \in \mathbb{Q}r1​,…,rn​∈Q. Split polynomials are the simplest non-constant maps defined over Q\mathbb{Q}Q that one can apply to an algebraic number: they are exactly the rational polynomials all of whose roots are rational. The question here is how much such a map can do — whether it can always push an algebraic number back down into Q\mathbb{Q}Q.

Say α\alphaα is kkk-collapsible if there are split f1,…,fkf_1,\dots,f_kf1​,…,fk​ with (fk∘⋯∘f1)(α)∈Q(f_k \circ \cdots \circ f_1)(\alpha) \in \mathbb{Q}(fk​∘⋯∘f1​)(α)∈Q, collapsible if it is 111-collapsible, and eventually collapsible if it is kkk-collapsible for some k≥1k \ge 1k≥1. Problem 3 of Griffin Macris's list of open problems asks whether every algebraic number is eventually collapsible. The two notions come apart at degree 333: Jordi Ribes settled the cubic case of eventual collapsibility using a composition of three split polynomials, and for eventual collapsibility the open frontier is deg⁡α≥4\deg\alpha \ge 4degα≥4. For the one-step notion the picture is different — degrees 111 and 222 are settled, and degree 333 is open. That one-step cubic case is this mission's goal.

Setting

Let α\alphaα be an algebraic number with [Q(α):Q]=3[\mathbb{Q}(\alpha):\mathbb{Q}] = 3[Q(α):Q]=3. After an affine change of variable over Q\mathbb{Q}Q one may assume α\alphaα is a root of a depressed cubic

m(x)=x3+d x+e,d,e∈Q,m(x) = x^3 + d\,x + e, \qquad d, e \in \mathbb{Q},m(x)=x3+dx+e,d,e∈Q,

with discriminant Δ=disc⁡(m)=−4d3−27e2\Delta = \operatorname{disc}(m) = -4d^3 - 27e^2Δ=disc(m)=−4d3−27e2. When Δ>0\Delta > 0Δ>0 the cubic is totally real (three real roots); when Δ<0\Delta < 0Δ<0 it has one real root and a complex-conjugate pair. In the latter case write the roots as

α1=−2u,α2,3=u±iv,d=v2−3u2,e=2u(u2+v2),\alpha_1 = -2u, \qquad \alpha_{2,3} = u \pm iv, \qquad d = v^2 - 3u^2, \quad e = 2u(u^2 + v^2),α1​=−2u,α2,3​=u±iv,d=v2−3u2,e=2u(u2+v2),

and set ψ=arctan⁡(3u/v)\psi = \arctan(3u/v)ψ=arctan(3u/v), the parameter that controls the archimedean obstruction below. Scaling α↦wα\alpha \mapsto w\alphaα↦wα sends (d,e)↦(w2d,w3e)(d,e) \mapsto (w^2 d, w^3 e)(d,e)↦(w2d,w3e), so the single rational invariant

τ=e2/d3\tau = e^2/d^3τ=e2/d3

determines the problem up to scaling: the search space is one rational parameter, not two.

Formalization targets

Goal — every cubic algebraic number is collapsible

∀ α∈C,[Q(α):Q]=3 ⟹ ∃ f split with f(α)∈Q.\forall\, \alpha \in \mathbb{C}, \quad [\mathbb{Q}(\alpha):\mathbb{Q}] = 3 \ \Longrightarrow\ \exists\, f \text{ split with } f(\alpha) \in \mathbb{Q}.∀α∈C,[Q(α):Q]=3 ⟹ ∃f split with f(α)∈Q.

This is the weakest statement that settles the case: it fixes no bound on deg⁡f\deg fdegf, and asserts only that some split fff exists. A version with a degree bound would be strictly stronger and is not the goal, because no such bound is known — indeed the archimedean milestone below shows no uniform one can exist.

Supporting targets

The milestone list runs from the reformulation and the invariance reductions, through the known sufficient conditions, to the two obstructions and the two genuinely open sub-targets. Ordered as they are stated there:

  1. the product criterion — α\alphaα is collapsible iff ∏i(α−ri)∈Q\prod_i(\alpha - r_i) \in \mathbb{Q}∏i​(α−ri​)∈Q for some nonempty finite multiset of rationals, which turns collapsibility into a multiplicative relation in K×/Q×K^\times/\mathbb{Q}^\timesK×/Q×;
  2. affine invariance, and the completeness of τ\tauτ as an invariant of the scaling action, which together justify the reduction to one parameter;
  3. two sufficient conditions: square discriminant, and the power-family condition subsuming it;
  4. three obstructions: gap parity in the totally real case; the archimedean degree bound when Δ<0\Delta < 0Δ<0; and the extension of that bound beyond cubics, to any algebraic number possessing both a real and a non-real conjugate.

The mission also carries, as a plain theorem rather than a milestone, the single open instance x3+6x+1x^3 + 6x + 1x3+6x+1 — the smallest cubic within computational reach for which no collapsing is known. It is an instance of the goal rather than a step toward it, which is why it is not on the attack path.

Significance

A proof of the goal closes the one-step cubic case and, with Ribes's composition result, would give a complete picture at degree 333. A disproof would be at least as informative: a single cubic α\alphaα admitting no split fff with f(α)∈Qf(\alpha) \in \mathbb{Q}f(α)∈Q would separate 111-collapsibility from eventual collapsibility by an explicit example, showing that composition is genuinely necessary and not an artefact of the known proof.

The supporting targets have value independent of the goal. The product criterion is the statement everything else is phrased against. The archimedean bound is the only known mechanism forcing deg⁡f→∞\deg f \to \inftydegf→∞, and it is what rules out a uniform-degree approach.

Status, stated precisely. Six of the eight milestones have machine-checked Lean 4 + Mathlib proofs in the author's development, against a newer Mathlib revision than this mission's environment; restating and reproving them here is a port, not new mathematics, and they are included because the goal cannot be attacked without them. The two archimedean milestones are not proved in that form. For the cubic bound both halves exist — the convexity argument and the Möbius reduction — but the statement in terms of a collapsing polynomial has not been assembled. The extension beyond cubics has not been formalised at all; the argument is the same one, since nothing in it uses cubicness beyond the identification of a single circle parameter, but that observation is not a proof. The instance x3+6x+1x^3 + 6x + 1x3+6x+1 and the goal itself are open.

Difficulty

The obvious approach is to write down a split fff with rational roots and force f(α)∈Qf(\alpha) \in \mathbb{Q}f(α)∈Q by solving for the roots. This works when Δ\DeltaΔ is a rational square, and more generally under the power-family condition, and produces the bulk of the known examples — but it cannot work in general, for a reason that is quantitative rather than technical.

Suppose Δ<0\Delta < 0Δ<0 and f=a∏i(x−ri)f = a\prod_i(x - r_i)f=a∏i​(x−ri​) is split with f(α)∈Qf(\alpha) \in \mathbb{Q}f(α)∈Q. Irreducibility of mmm forces f−cf - cf−c to be divisible by mmm, hence f(α1)=f(α2)≠0f(\alpha_1) = f(\alpha_2) \ne 0f(α1​)=f(α2​)=0, hence ∏iα1−riα2−ri=1\prod_i \frac{\alpha_1 - r_i}{\alpha_2 - r_i} = 1∏i​α2​−ri​α1​−ri​​=1. Each factor lies on a fixed circle through 000 and 111 determined by ψ\psiψ, and a convexity argument on log⁡cos⁡\log\coslogcos then forces

deg⁡f ≥ π/ψ.\deg f \ \ge\ \pi/\psi.degf ≥ π/ψ.

As τ→0+\tau \to 0^+τ→0+ one has ψ→0\psi \to 0ψ→0, so the required degree is unbounded: there is no uniform degree in which to search, and any construction must produce split polynomials of growing degree. This is the central difficulty. For x3+6x+1x^3 + 6x + 1x3+6x+1 the bound already gives deg⁡f≥32\deg f \ge 32degf≥32, which is why that cubic resists the searches that settle its neighbours.

Only one step of this argument is special to cubics: the identification of the circle parameter as 3u/v3u/v3u/v. For an algebraic number of any degree with a real conjugate α1\alpha_1α1​ and a non-real conjugate α2\alpha_2α2​, irreducibility gives the same relation ∏i(α1−ri)/(α2−ri)=1\prod_i (\alpha_1 - r_i)/(\alpha_2 - r_i) = 1∏i​(α1​−ri​)/(α2​−ri​)=1, the images again lie on a circle through 000 and 111, and the parameter is λ=(Re⁡α2−α1)/Im⁡α2\lambda = (\operatorname{Re}\alpha_2 - \alpha_1)/\operatorname{Im}\alpha_2λ=(Reα2​−α1​)/Imα2​, which specialises to 3u/v3u/v3u/v in the depressed-cubic case. The obstruction therefore constrains the whole conjecture, not merely its cubic case, which is why the extension is carried as a milestone in its own right.

In the totally real case (Δ>0\Delta > 0Δ>0) the archimedean argument gives nothing at all — the relevant Möbius maps are real and surject onto R^\widehat{\mathbb{R}}R — and the only known constraint is that each gap between consecutive conjugates contains an even number of roots of fff. Whether degrees stay bounded there is itself unsettled.

Formalization scope

Representation. IsSplit f says 0<deg⁡f0 < \deg f0<degf and f=C a⋅∏r∈rs(X−r)f = C\,a \cdot \prod_{r \in rs}(X - r)f=Ca⋅∏r∈rs​(X−r) for a nonzero rational aaa and a multiset rsrsrs of rationals; multiplicities are therefore allowed and the roots need not be distinct. Collapsible α is stated for α\alphaα in an arbitrary field KKK carrying a Q\mathbb{Q}Q-algebra structure, not only for K=CK = \mathbb{C}K=C, so the results apply verbatim to a root in R\mathbb{R}R, in C\mathbb{C}C, or in Q[x]/(m)\mathbb{Q}[x]/(m)Q[x]/(m). The goal theorem is stated over C\mathbb{C}C, with "cubic" expressed as deg⁡(minpoly⁡Qα)=3\deg(\operatorname{minpoly}_{\mathbb{Q}}\alpha) = 3deg(minpolyQ​α)=3.

Ruling out a trivialisation. Collapsible places no lower bound on deg⁡f\deg fdegf and does not require the value c=f(α)c = f(\alpha)c=f(α) to be nonzero, so one must check that the goal is not satisfiable by degenerate means. It is not: c=0c = 0c=0 would make m∣fm \mid fm∣f, impossible for an irreducible cubic mmm dividing a polynomial that splits over Q\mathbb{Q}Q. Constant fff is excluded by 0<deg⁡f0 < \deg f0<degf. Nothing in the statement is vacuous — the hypotheses of the goal are satisfied by every cubic irrationality.

Conventions in the archimedean milestones. In the cubic bound the parameters u,vu, vu,v enter as real numbers satisfying the factorisation identity, with the normalisation 0<uv0 < uv0<uv; this is not a restriction, since vvv is determined only up to sign and the sign may be chosen. Under it ψ=arctan⁡(3u/v)∈(0,π/2)\psi = \arctan(3u/v) \in (0, \pi/2)ψ=arctan(3u/v)∈(0,π/2), and the conclusion is π/ψ≤deg⁡f\pi/\psi \le \deg fπ/ψ≤degf with deg⁡f\deg fdegf the natural-number degree.

In the general bound the corresponding normalisation is 0<(Re⁡α2−α1)Im⁡α20 < (\operatorname{Re}\alpha_2 - \alpha_1)\operatorname{Im}\alpha_20<(Reα2​−α1​)Imα2​. It forces Im⁡α2≠0\operatorname{Im}\alpha_2 \neq 0Imα2​=0, so α2\alpha_2α2​ is genuinely non-real and λ>0\lambda > 0λ>0, hence ψ∈(0,π/2)\psi \in (0,\pi/2)ψ∈(0,π/2) and no division-by-zero value can arise in the conclusion. Passing to the complex conjugate of α2\alpha_2α2​ flips the sign of both factors, so the condition is a choice of conjugate rather than a restriction — except when Re⁡α2=α1\operatorname{Re}\alpha_2 = \alpha_1Reα2​=α1​, which the hypothesis excludes and which cannot occur for a depressed cubic with Δ<0\Delta<0Δ<0. No degree hypothesis on mmm is needed: possessing both a real and a non-real root already forces deg⁡m≥3\deg m \ge 3degm≥3.

Infrastructure. A complete development needs Polynomial, Multiset, minpoly, and for the archimedean bound Real.arctan, Complex.arg, and strict concavity of log⁡cos⁡\log\coslogcos on (−π/2,π/2)(-\pi/2, \pi/2)(−π/2,π/2). The convexity and Möbius lemmas are reusable well beyond this mission — they bound the number of factors in any product of complex numbers constrained to a circle through the origin. Contributions of any of the supporting targets are welcome independently of the goal; so is a disproof, and so is an explicit collapsing of x3+6x+1x^3 + 6x + 1x3+6x+1 of any degree.

Selected references

  • Griffin Macris, List of open problems, Problem 3. https://sites.google.com/view/griffinmacris/open-problems
  • Miles, Collapsible algebraic numbers, 2026. https://quesswho.github.io/miles-blog/2026/08/20/collapsible/ — source of the definitions of split, kkk-collapsible, collapsible and eventually collapsible used above, of Ribes's cubic result for eventual collapsibility, and of the statement that the degree-333 case of one-step collapsibility is open.
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Pure Mathematics·Captain: ShouqiaoWang

Symplectic Modules Free over an Abelian NilradicalResearch Paper

Motivation

Polynomial representations provide a concrete way to study modules over Lie algebras: the underlying vector space is a polynomial ring, while the Lie generators act by explicit multiplication, shift, and differential operators. Chen and Tan classify a family of modules over the symplectic Lie algebra sp2ℓ(C)\mathfrak{sp}_{2\ell}(\mathbb C)sp2ℓ​(C) that are free of rank one over the universal enveloping algebra of an abelian nilradical. Their paper determines the family, its isomorphism classes, its weight and simplicity criteria, its finite-length behavior at exceptional parameters, and an application to Hamiltonian Lie algebras. This mission packages those headline results into one common Lean target, corresponding to Theorems 1.1--1.3 of Chen--Tan.

The common-family formulation matters. The source does not assert three unrelated existence theorems: one explicit two-parameter family τ(C,Φ)\tau(C,\Phi)τ(C,Φ) carries all of the classification, simplicity, finite-length, and Hamiltonian consequences. The Lean goal therefore quantifies that family once and requires all headline properties of the same witness.

Setting

Fix ℓ≥2\ell\ge2ℓ≥2 and the complex symplectic Lie algebra sp2ℓ(C)\mathfrak{sp}_{2\ell}(\mathbb C)sp2ℓ​(C). The relevant maximal parabolic subalgebra has an abelian nilradical n\mathfrak nn. Its enveloping algebra is a polynomial algebra in the root generators, represented formally by a multivariate polynomial ring. A rank-one free U(n)U(\mathfrak n)U(n)-module can consequently be modeled on that polynomial ring.

The definition bundle presents the simple Chevalley generators and their action by explicit operators depending on a scalar C∈CC\in\mathbb CC∈C and a polynomial parameter Φ\PhiΦ. Rather than assuming that these formulas already form a representation, the target asks for a generator presentation satisfying the symplectic Lie relations and for a representation family τ(C,Φ)\tau(C,\Phi)τ(C,Φ) realizing the formulas. It also formalizes module equivalence, weight spaces, simplicity, Noetherian and Artinian conditions, finite composition factors, and the Shen--Larsson construction for a Hamiltonian Lie algebra.

Formalization targets

Common polynomial-module family

Prove that for every ℓ≥2\ell\ge2ℓ≥2 there is one generator presentation and one family

(C,Φ)⟼τ(C,Φ)(C,\Phi)\longmapsto \tau(C,\Phi)(C,Φ)⟼τ(C,Φ)

of sp2ℓ(C)\mathfrak{sp}_{2\ell}(\mathbb C)sp2ℓ​(C)-representations on the polynomial ring, free of rank one over the abelian nilradical, satisfying the explicit generator formulas. Prove the source's classification and isomorphism criteria, including that τ(C,Φ)\tau(C,\Phi)τ(C,Φ) is a weight module exactly when Φ\PhiΦ is constant, and the stated simplicity criterion outside the exceptional arithmetic set

{ℓ+12−n2:n∈Z>0}.\left\{\frac{\ell+1}{2}-\frac{n}{2}:n\in\mathbb Z_{>0}\right\}.{2ℓ+1​−2n​:n∈Z>0​}.

For exceptional CCC, prove the Noetherian/Artinian and finite-composition-series conclusions and the weight/nonweight classification of the composition factors. Finally, prove that the canonical Hamiltonian Shen--Larsson construction has the exact degree-weight spaces and the source's simplicity and weight-module consequences. All clauses must be witnessed by the same family τ\tauτ.

Significance

The result gives a complete algebraic description of a large concrete class of non-highest-weight modules. It separates the generic simple regime from an exceptional finite-length regime and shows how nonweight symplectic modules generate weight modules over an infinite-dimensional Hamiltonian Lie algebra. The explicit formulas make the family suitable for calculation, while the classification prevents duplicate parameter choices from being mistaken for genuinely different modules.

Formalization adds checks that are easy to blur in prose. In particular, the generator formulas cannot be called a Lie representation until the defining relations have been verified, and the same witness must support every later theorem. A completed proof will contribute reusable Lean infrastructure for symplectic root data, polynomial representations, module-theoretic finiteness, exact weight-space descriptions, and Hamiltonian Lie-algebra functors. The paper's proofs are known; the open task is their machine-checked reconstruction.

Difficulty

The first obstacle is structural rather than computational. Checking formulas on individual generators is insufficient: all Chevalley and Serre relations must hold with the correct operator order and signs, after which the action must extend to the full Lie algebra. Classification then requires controlling arbitrary rank-one-free modules, not merely verifying that the displayed examples exist.

The exceptional parameters introduce a second layer. Generic simplicity and exceptional finite length are logically different claims, and the composition-factor statement must be tied to the same parameterized representation. The Hamiltonian application adds another algebra and a tensor construction; exact weight spaces and simplicity cannot be obtained by treating the functor as an opaque interface. The Lean goal deliberately keeps these obligations inside one theorem so that separate convenient witnesses cannot satisfy different portions.

Formalization scope

The mission works over C\mathbb CC with natural rank ℓ≥2\ell\ge2ℓ≥2. The definition bundle uses concrete multivariate polynomials, matrices and linear maps, a presented symplectic Lie algebra, Lie representations, submodules, and tensor products. The exceptional set is expressed with complex coercions, so no accidental natural-number division is involved. The nilradical action, freeness, parameter equivalence, weight-space equalities, simplicity, finite-length properties, and Hamiltonian brackets are transparent propositions in the bundle.

The final theorem is a single conjunction under one existentially quantified presentation and one existentially quantified family τ\tauτ. Several convenient corollaries can be projected from it, but they are not independent targets and do not permit different witnesses. The bundle contains no custom axioms or opaque semantic assumptions, and the only admitted term is the main theorem's sorry. Contributions may split the proof into source-numbered lemmas about generator relations, classification, exceptional submodules, or the Shen--Larsson application, provided the shared-family quantifier structure is preserved.

Selected references

  • Yang Chen and Haijun Tan, Simple sp2ℓ(C)\mathfrak{sp}_{2\ell}(\mathbb C)sp2ℓ​(C)-modules which are free over an abelian nilradical, Journal of Algebra 697 (2026), 341--372, Theorems 1.1--1.3 (formal Theorems 3.7, 3.8, 4.7, 4.9, and 5.2). DOI
  • G. Shen, foundational work on mixed-product constructions for modules over Lie algebras of Cartan type, cited in the source paper for the Shen--Larsson functor.
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Pure Mathematics·Captain: ShouqiaoWang

Arbitrary Torsion in Moment-Angle Homology and Loop HomologyResearch Paper

Motivation

Moment-angle complexes are central objects in toric topology. They convert the combinatorics of a simplicial complex into a topological space assembled from disks and circles, allowing face structure to influence homotopy and homology. When the simplicial complex triangulates a sphere, the resulting space is a moment-angle manifold. Torsion in the integral homology of these manifolds is difficult to realize in low simplicial dimension, and torsion in the homology of their based loop spaces is even more constrained. Yang Han and Keke Li's Theorem 1.7 asserts that dimension four is already universal: every finitely generated abelian group can occur as a subgroup of both homology theories for one and the same simplicial 444-sphere.

This mission formalizes that headline existence statement. It is not restricted to a chosen finite list of groups or primes, and it requires a common simplicial sphere rather than permitting separate witnesses for ordinary and loop homology.

Setting

Let LLL be an abstract simplicial complex on a finite vertex set [m][m][m]. Its geometric realization ∣L∣|L|∣L∣ is formed from probability vectors whose supports are faces of LLL. The condition that LLL is a simplicial 444-sphere means that this realization is homeomorphic to the unit sphere S4⊂R5S^4\subset\mathbb R^5S4⊂R5.

For each face σ∈L\sigma\in Lσ∈L, assign a copy of the closed disk D2D^2D2 at vertices in σ\sigmaσ and the boundary circle S1S^1S1 at vertices outside σ\sigmaσ. The associated moment-angle complex is

ZL=⋃σ∈L∏i=1mYi(σ),Yi(σ)={D2,i∈σ,S1,i∉σ.\mathcal Z_L =\bigcup_{\sigma\in L} \prod_{i=1}^{m}Y_i(\sigma), \qquad Y_i(\sigma)= \begin{cases} D^2,&i\in\sigma,\\ S^1,&i\notin\sigma. \end{cases}ZL​=σ∈L⋃​i=1∏m​Yi​(σ),Yi​(σ)={D2,S1,​i∈σ,i∈/σ.​

The all-ones point is a canonical basepoint. Write ΩZL\Omega\mathcal Z_LΩZL​ for the based loop space with the compact-open topology. For a space XXX, the mission uses total integral singular homology

H∗(X;Z)=⨁q≥0Hq(X;Z)H_*(X;\mathbb Z)=\bigoplus_{q\ge0}H_q(X;\mathbb Z)H∗​(X;Z)=q≥0⨁​Hq​(X;Z)

as an additive abelian group. Saying that an abelian group GGG is a subgroup means that there is an injective additive homomorphism G↪H∗(X;Z)G\hookrightarrow H_*(X;\mathbb Z)G↪H∗​(X;Z).

Formalization targets

Arbitrary torsion in one moment-angle manifold

For every finitely generated abelian group GGG, prove that there are an integer mmm and a simplicial complex LLL on Fin m such that ∣L∣≅S4|L|\cong S^4∣L∣≅S4 and there are injective homomorphisms

G↪H∗(ZL;Z),G↪H∗(ΩZL;Z).G\hookrightarrow H_*(\mathcal Z_L;\mathbb Z), \qquad G\hookrightarrow H_*(\Omega\mathcal Z_L;\mathbb Z).G↪H∗​(ZL​;Z),G↪H∗​(ΩZL​;Z).

The quantifier order matters: the same mmm and the same LLL must support both embeddings. The target concerns additive subgroups of total graded homology; it does not require the two embeddings to land in the same degree or to preserve multiplicative structures.

Significance

The theorem gives a universality statement for moment-angle manifolds over simplicial 444-spheres. It says that no classification by a bounded list of torsion primes or exponents can describe all such homology and loop-homology groups. Requiring both embeddings for a single LLL connects the ordinary topology of the manifold to its based-loop topology rather than proving two unrelated existence results.

Formalizing the theorem requires reusable foundations in several areas: finite abstract simplicial complexes, geometric realization, polyhedral products, based loop spaces, integral singular homology, graded direct sums, and additive embeddings. The published article presents a human proof; this mission records its intended main theorem as an open Lean target. The definitions do not assume the existence of the required sphere or embeddings, so a solver must supply the mathematical construction and all homological consequences.

Difficulty

The assertion ranges over arbitrary finitely generated abelian groups, including free parts and prime-power torsion of unbounded exponent. A finite check of selected groups cannot establish the target. The same finite simplicial object must simultaneously control two different homology theories, one of which is applied to an infinite-dimensional function space. Standard library support is strongest for singular homology as a functor, while concrete calculations for moment-angle spaces and loop spaces require additional bridges.

There is also a substantial representation boundary between combinatorics and topology. The face data of LLL, the union of disk-circle products, the homeomorphism ∣L∣≅S4|L|\cong S^4∣L∣≅S4, and the induced maps on homology must all refer to compatible spaces and basepoints. A formal solution cannot replace “simplicial sphere” by a mere Boolean flag or replace homology by an arbitrary group-valued field.

Formalization scope

Lean represents LLL using AbstractSimplicialComplex (Fin m). Because Mathlib's structure includes singleton faces automatically, the auxiliary face predicate explicitly restores the conventional empty face where the moment-angle union needs it. The geometric realization is the standard support-restricted probability simplex, and the sphere condition is an actual homeomorphism to the Euclidean unit 444-sphere.

The moment-angle space is a subtype of (Fin m → ℂ) defined by the literal disk/circle coordinate condition. The loop space consists of based continuous paths with matching endpoints and carries the compact-open topology inherited from Mathlib's path construction. Homology is singularHomologyFunctor with coefficients in Z\mathbb ZZ, and total homology is a direct sum over all natural degrees.

The statement permits the two embeddings to occupy different degrees and makes no ring-embedding claim; these choices match the source phrase “contain GGG as a subgroup.” It rules out vacuity by requiring an actual simplicial complex, an actual sphere homeomorphism, and injective additive maps. Contributions that isolate degree-specific refinements, compute homology of standard polyhedral products, or formalize reusable loop-space equivalences are welcome, provided they reconnect to the stated root theorem.

Selected references

  • Yang Han and Keke Li, Moment Angle Manifolds Corresponding to S4S^4S4 Whose Homology and Loop Homology May Have Arbitrary Torsion, International Mathematics Research Notices 2026(4), 1--7, 2026. DOI
  • A. Bahri, M. Bendersky, F. R. Cohen, and S. Gitler, The polyhedral product functor: a method of decomposition for moment-angle complexes, arrangements and related spaces, Advances in Mathematics 225(3), 2010, 1634--1668. DOI
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Quantum Information·Captain: wenxinzhang

Existence of complete sets of mutually unbiased basesOpen Problem

Motivation

Two orthonormal bases of C^d are mutually unbiased when every transition amplitude has squared modulus 1/d. At most d+1 such bases can coexist, and complete families are known in prime-power dimensions through finite-field constructions. Dimension six is the smallest famous composite case where existence of the complete seven-base family remains unknown.

This mission turns CUHK-Shenzhen AI Math Problem 16, Existence of complete sets of mutually unbiased bases, into an auditable Lean campaign. The objective is not merely to transcribe notation: it is to expose the mathematical model, the capstone, and a smaller attack surface as separate artifacts that other formalizers can inspect and reuse.

Setting

Construct seven 6 by 6 unitary-column matrices whose every distinct pair has all transition amplitudes of squared modulus 1/6. The baseline milestone constructs three pairwise mutually unbiased bases, a known lower bound that tests all matrix conventions.

Significance

Solving this target would settle the precise finite or analytic core represented by the Lean statement and would create reusable infrastructure in quantum information theory, mutually unbiased bases, finite fields, Hilbert spaces. Even a rigorous disproof is valuable: several entries in this collection deliberately ask whether an attractive extrapolation is true, and Lean forces a counterexample to satisfy every side condition. The mission therefore treats theorem proving and model criticism as equally legitimate research outcomes.

Difficulty

The equations are a large coupled system of polynomial equalities over complex phases, modulo substantial gauge symmetry. Numerical near-solutions do not certify exact existence, while nonexistence would require a global obstruction beyond currently known bounds. Dimension six lacks the finite-field structure that supplies complete prime-power constructions.

Suggested attack route

Formalize standard gauge reductions: fix the first basis to the identity and dephase transition Hadamard matrices. Verify a three-basis tensor-product construction. Then encode additional bases through complex Hadamard matrices and study algebraic constraints, Gröbner-style eliminations, semidefinite bounds, or exact certificates. Computational searches may guide conjectures, but uploaded proofs must convert numerical evidence to exact algebraic identities or certified inequalities.

Formalization scope

The Lean target is exact: column orthonormality is U-adjoint times U equals identity, and mutual unbiasedness uses Mathlib complex norm squared. Seven bases are indexed by Fin 7. No quotient by phase, permutation, or global unitary is built into the statement, since these symmetries preserve the predicate and can be used within proofs.

The natural-language source remains authoritative for motivation, while the Lean declaration is authoritative for what Prove2Me will verify. The mission description calls out restrictions where the current formal target is a finite-dimensional core, a fixed interpretation of informal terminology, or one sharpened subquestion from a broader classification problem. Those restrictions should not be silently generalized in a proof claim.

Milestones

Publish an exact three-basis construction in dimension six, then formalize dephasing and obstruction lemmas for extending a partial family.

The capstone is marked as the mission's main item and is never duplicated as a milestone. Definitions precede theorem statements in the proposal order. A milestone is considered complete only when its own exact statement is proved; proving a nearby theorem with stronger-looking prose but mismatched quantifiers, signs, supports, dimensions, or asymptotic constants does not complete it.

Timeline and literature status

The CUHK-Shenzhen AI Math Problems page added this problem on June 23, 2026. At the drafting date, August 31, 2026, the status and target corrections described above were checked against the source page and the cited primary material.

Acceptance criteria

A contribution may prove the displayed theorem or refute it by constructing data satisfying every Lean hypothesis while negating the conclusion. Informal changes of model do not count: any proposed correction must be submitted as a separately reviewed statement with an explanation of which source ambiguity or false implication it repairs. Definitions must remain computational or mathematically constrained; fields that simply assume the desired conclusion are not acceptable. Every proof must compile against the mission's pinned Mathlib revision, use no sorry, and expose a top-level theorem solution when submitted to Prove2Me.

The main theorem is intentionally separated from a smaller milestone. Contributors should preserve that dependency order, publish reusable lemmas rather than monolithic tactics, and report whether a lemma is analytic, algebraic, combinatorial, or infrastructure-only. Numerical evidence, external computer algebra, and exhaustive search are welcome for discovery, but a final certificate must be replayable by Lean. If an external result is invoked, its hypotheses must be represented in the formal statement or proved in the dependency tree.

Formal verification policy

The files were built locally with Lean 4.30.0 and Mathlib revision c5ea00351c28e24afc9f0f84379aa41082b1188f, the supported Prove2Me environment at drafting time. The mission definition file is ordered before all theorem files, and each theorem imports exactly that public definition module or Mathlib. Independent blind read-backs accompany the draft items so reviewers can compare what the Lean code literally says with this mathematical description. Human confirmation remains required before the public proposal can be submitted for moderation.

Selected references

  • Original problem
  • Durt et al., review of MUBs
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Algebraic Geometry·Captain: Lucas

Hilbert's Nullstellensatz (Wikipedia) I: Formulations over Algebraically Closed FieldsTextbook

Motivation

Hilbert's Nullstellensatz ("theorem of zeros") is the basic link between algebra and geometry. It was proved by David Hilbert in his second major paper on invariant theory in 1893, after his 1890 paper that proved the basis theorem, and it is a foundational result of algebraic geometry. It gives an algebraic criterion for when a system of polynomial equations over an algebraically closed field has a solution, and an algebraic criterion for when one polynomial vanishes wherever a given family does. Every dictionary between affine varieties and ideals — points and maximal ideals, algebraic sets and radical ideals, irreducible sets and prime ideals — is a consequence.

This mission follows the Wikipedia article Hilbert's Nullstellensatz (snapshot of 27 September 2026): its introduction, its section Formulations, the statement of Zariski's lemma from Proofs, and the first theorem of Generalizations (finitely generated algebras over Jacobson rings).

Setting

Let kkk be a field and KKK an algebraically closed field extension of kkk (every non-constant polynomial over KKK has a root in KKK). Write k[X1,…,Xn]k[X_1,\dots,X_n]k[X1​,…,Xn​] for the polynomial ring in nnn variables. A point is an nnn-tuple a=(a1,…,an)∈Kna = (a_1,\dots,a_n) \in K^na=(a1​,…,an​)∈Kn, and f(a)f(a)f(a) is the value of a polynomial fff at aaa.

  • For an ideal JJJ, the algebraic set (zero locus) is V(J)={a∈Kn:f(a)=0 for all f∈J}\mathrm V(J) = \{a \in K^n : f(a) = 0 \text{ for all } f \in J\}V(J)={a∈Kn:f(a)=0 for all f∈J}.
  • For U⊆KnU \subseteq K^nU⊆Kn, the vanishing ideal is I(U)={p:p(a)=0 for all a∈U}\mathrm I(U) = \{p : p(a) = 0 \text{ for all } a \in U\}I(U)={p:p(a)=0 for all a∈U}.
  • The radical of JJJ is J={p:pr∈J for some r∈N}\sqrt J = \{p : p^r \in J \text{ for some } r \in \mathbb N\}J​={p:pr∈J for some r∈N}.
  • For a∈Kna \in K^na∈Kn, ma=(X1−a1,…,Xn−an)\mathfrak m_a = (X_1 - a_1, \dots, X_n - a_n)ma​=(X1​−a1​,…,Xn​−an​) is the ideal of the point.
  • A subset W⊆KnW \subseteq K^nW⊆Kn is irreducible (Zariski topology) if it is nonempty and is not covered by two algebraic sets without lying in one of them.
  • A commutative ring is Jacobson if every radical ideal is an intersection of maximal ideals.

Formalization targets

Goal: the Nullstellensatz

If p∈k[X1,…,Xn]p \in k[X_1,\dots,X_n]p∈k[X1​,…,Xn​] vanishes on V(J)⊆Kn\mathrm V(J) \subseteq K^nV(J)⊆Kn, then

∃ r∈N,pr∈J.\exists\, r \in \mathbb N,\qquad p^r \in J.∃r∈N,pr∈J.

This is the statement of the article's section Formulations, with the coefficient field kkk and the algebraically closed field KKK allowed to differ.

Milestones

  1. Systems of equations. Over algebraically closed KKK: a system f1=⋯=fm=0f_1 = \dots = f_m = 0f1​=⋯=fm​=0 has no solution in KnK^nKn iff g1f1+⋯+gmfm=1g_1 f_1 + \dots + g_m f_m = 1g1​f1​+⋯+gm​fm​=1 for some gig_igi​; and fff vanishes on all solutions iff fr=g1f1+⋯+gmfmf^r = g_1 f_1 + \dots + g_m f_mfr=g1​f1​+⋯+gm​fm​ for some rrr and gig_igi​.
  2. Geometric form. I(V(J))=J\mathrm I(\mathrm V(J)) = \sqrt JI(V(J))=J​.
  3. Weak Nullstellensatz. A proper ideal of k[X1,…,Xn]k[X_1,\dots,X_n]k[X1​,…,Xn​] has a common zero in KnK^nKn; algebraic closedness is needed, as (X2+1)⊆R[X](X^2+1) \subseteq \mathbb R[X](X2+1)⊆R[X] shows; for K=CK = \mathbb CK=C, n=1n = 1n=1 this is the fundamental theorem of algebra: PPP has a complex root iff deg⁡P≠0\deg P \ne 0degP=0.
  4. Correspondences. V\mathrm VV is an order-reversing bijection from radical ideals onto algebraic sets, with inverse I\mathrm II; I({a})=ma\mathrm I(\{a\}) = \mathfrak m_aI({a})=ma​ is maximal; every maximal ideal of K[X1,…,Xn]K[X_1,\dots,X_n]K[X1​,…,Xn​] is some ma\mathfrak m_ama​; an algebraic set WWW is irreducible iff I(W)\mathrm I(W)I(W) is prime.
  5. Intersections. J=⋂m⊇Jm=⋂a∈V(J)ma\sqrt J = \bigcap_{\mathfrak m \supseteq J} \mathfrak m = \bigcap_{a \in \mathrm V(J)} \mathfrak m_aJ​=⋂m⊇J​m=⋂a∈V(J)​ma​.
  6. Zariski's lemma. A field finitely generated as an algebra over a field KKK is a finite extension of KKK.
  7. Jacobson rings. A finitely generated algebra SSS over a Jacobson ring RRR is Jacobson, and for a maximal ideal n⊆S\mathfrak n \subseteq Sn⊆S, n∩R\mathfrak n \cap Rn∩R is maximal and S/nS/\mathfrak nS/n is finite over R/(n∩R)R/(\mathfrak n \cap R)R/(n∩R).

Significance

The Nullstellensatz makes the zero sets of polynomial systems accessible through ideals: solvability of a system becomes the ideal-membership question 1∈J1 \in J1∈J, and the geometry of algebraic sets becomes the algebra of radical ideals. Consequences include the identification of the points of KnK^nKn with the maximal ideals of K[X1,…,Xn]K[X_1,\dots,X_n]K[X1​,…,Xn​], the description of irreducible algebraic sets by prime ideals, and the reduction of the fundamental theorem of algebra to the case n=1n=1n=1. The Jacobson-ring version extends the first equality of the intersection formula to every finitely generated algebra over a field.

All statements here are classical and proved. Mathlib already contains versions of several of them in its own vocabulary (Jacobson rings, Zariski's lemma, and a Nullstellensatz over an algebraically closed coefficient field). What this mission adds is a single set of statements matching the article's formulations: the version with separate fields k⊆Kk \subseteq Kk⊆K, the explicit systems-of-equations form, the point-ideal and irreducibility correspondences over KnK^nKn, and the intersection formula — and, for solvers, the bridges from these concrete statements to Mathlib's abstract ones.

Difficulty

The inclusion J⊆I(V(J))\sqrt J \subseteq \mathrm I(\mathrm V(J))J​⊆I(V(J)) is immediate; the content is the reverse inclusion, which requires producing a point of KnK^nKn from purely algebraic data. When k≠Kk \ne Kk=K the ideal JJJ lives over kkk while the points live over KKK, so a result stated only for K[X1,…,Xn]K[X_1,\dots,X_n]K[X1​,…,Xn​] does not apply directly: an ideal of k[X]k[X]k[X] must be related to the ideal it generates in K[X]K[X]K[X] without losing membership information. For the correspondences, the explicit ideals ma\mathfrak m_ama​ and the closed-set definition of irreducibility must be matched with the abstract notions (maximal spectrum, irreducible closed subsets) used in the library.

Formalization scope

  • Points of KnK^nKn are functions Fin n→K\mathrm{Fin}\,n \to KFinn→K; polynomials are MvPolynomial (Fin n) k. When k≠Kk \ne Kk=K, KKK is a kkk-algebra and evaluation of a polynomial over kkk at a point of KnK^nKn goes through k→Kk \to Kk→K.
  • n=0n = 0n=0 is allowed throughout; so is the unit ideal J=k[X]J = k[X]J=k[X], where V(J)=∅\mathrm V(J) = \emptysetV(J)=∅ and empty intersections of ideals are the whole ring.
  • Irreducibility is stated through closed sets (algebraic sets) without putting a topology on KnK^nKn. The degree in the n=1n=1n=1 statement is Mathlib's Polynomial.degree, with deg⁡0=−∞\deg 0 = -\inftydeg0=−∞.
  • In the goal, the exponent rrr may be 000; that witness only works when JJJ is the unit ideal, so it does not trivialize the statement.
  • Out of scope: the proofs via resultants and Gröbner bases, the effective Nullstellensatz, Lang's infinite-variable version, the scheme-theoretic generalizations, and the projective and analytic Nullstellensätze.
  • Reusable output: the definitions V\mathrm VV, I\mathrm II, algebraic set, irreducible set and ma\mathfrak m_ama​, and bridges to Mathlib's MvPolynomial.zeroLocus, MvPolynomial.vanishingIdeal, and IsJacobsonRing.

Selected references

  • D. Hilbert, Ueber die vollen Invariantensysteme, Mathematische Annalen 42 (1893).
  • Wikipedia contributors, Hilbert's Nullstellensatz. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hilbert%27s_Nullstellensatz
  • M. F. Atiyah, I. G. Macdonald, Introduction to Commutative Algebra, Addison-Wesley, 1969, Chapters 5 and 7.
  • D. Eisenbud, Commutative Algebra with a View Toward Algebraic Geometry, Springer GTM 150, 1995, Chapter 4.
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Representation Theory·Captain: lisamegawatts

Clifford Casimir I: Odd-Sector Adjoint Spectrum on Cl(6,0)Research Paper

Motivation

The real Clifford algebra Cl(6,0)\mathrm{Cl}(6,0)Cl(6,0) is the smallest Euclidean Clifford algebra whose full structure carries a nontrivial multiplicity-eight representation-theoretic decomposition, and it has become a recurring object in programs that build internal gauge and family structure from Clifford generators rather than imposing it by hand. Within such programs, the single most basic representation-theoretic question one can ask about the algebra is: how does a distinguished su(2)\mathfrak{su}(2)su(2) subalgebra, acting by the adjoint action, decompose the odd part of the algebra as a representation?

This mission answers that question exactly, for the specific triple of bivectors built on the index set {0,2,5}\{0,2,5\}{0,2,5}. The computation was carried out structurally (by splitting active indices from spectator indices) in the LeanProofs research program in 2026 and recorded with exact multiplicities; no machine-checked proof exists yet. The purpose here is to close that gap: the result is finite-dimensional linear algebra, completely within reach of a Lean 4 + Mathlib development, and every constant in it is explicit.

Setting

Fix R6\mathbb{R}^6R6 with its standard inner product and the associated quadratic form Q60=diag(1,1,1,1,1,1)Q_{60} = \mathrm{diag}(1,1,1,1,1,1)Q60​=diag(1,1,1,1,1,1), and let Cl(6,0)=CliffordAlgebra(Q60)\mathrm{Cl}(6,0) = \mathrm{CliffordAlgebra}(Q_{60})Cl(6,0)=CliffordAlgebra(Q60​) be the real Clifford algebra generated by symbols e0,…,e5e_0,\dots,e_5e0​,…,e5​ with

ei2=1,eiej=−ejei  (i≠j).e_i^2 = 1, \qquad e_i e_j = -e_j e_i \ \ (i \neq j).ei2​=1,ei​ej​=−ej​ei​  (i=j).

The algebra is Z\mathbb{Z}Z-graded in the usual sense: it is the direct sum of its grade-kkk subspaces, spanned by products of kkk distinct generators, of dimension (6k)\binom{6}{k}(k6​). The odd sector is the linear span of the odd grades,

Cl−(6,0)  =  grade1⊕grade3⊕grade5,dim⁡RCl−(6,0)=6+20+6=32.\mathrm{Cl}^-(6,0) \;=\; \mathrm{grade}_1 \oplus \mathrm{grade}_3 \oplus \mathrm{grade}_5, \qquad \dim_{\mathbb{R}} \mathrm{Cl}^-(6,0) = 6 + 20 + 6 = 32.Cl−(6,0)=grade1​⊕grade3​⊕grade5​,dimR​Cl−(6,0)=6+20+6=32.

On it, register three bivectors and their halved adjoint actions:

E1=e0e2,E2=e2e5,E3=e0e5,Ti=12 adEi,E_1 = e_0 e_2, \quad E_2 = e_2 e_5, \quad E_3 = e_0 e_5, \qquad T_i = \tfrac{1}{2}\,\mathrm{ad}_{E_i},E1​=e0​e2​,E2​=e2​e5​,E3​=e0​e5​,Ti​=21​adEi​​,

where adX(Y)=XY−YX\mathrm{ad}_{X}(Y) = XY - YXadX​(Y)=XY−YX. The triple satisfies the su(2)\mathfrak{su}(2)su(2) relations [E1,E2]=2E3[E_1,E_2]=2E_3[E1​,E2​]=2E3​ and cyclic permutations, so the TiT_iTi​ generate a copy of su(2)\mathfrak{su}(2)su(2) with [T1,T2]=T3[T_1,T_2]=T_3[T1​,T2​]=T3​ cyclically. The associated quadratic Casimir is the endomorphism

C  =  −(T12+T22+T32).C \;=\; -(T_1^2 + T_2^2 + T_3^2).C=−(T12​+T22​+T32​).

Because each EiE_iEi​ is even, every TiT_iTi​ preserves the odd sector, and so does CCC.

Formalization targets

Goal — the Casimir spectrum with exact multiplicities

C∣Cl−(6,0) has eigenvalue 2 with multiplicity 24 and eigenvalue 0 with multiplicity 8,C\big|_{\mathrm{Cl}^-(6,0)} \ \text{has eigenvalue } 2 \text{ with multiplicity } 24 \ \text{and eigenvalue } 0 \text{ with multiplicity } 8,C​Cl−(6,0)​ has eigenvalue 2 with multiplicity 24 and eigenvalue 0 with multiplicity 8,

the two eigenspaces spanning the whole odd sector. Equivalently, as a representation of the generated Spin(3)≅SU(2)\mathrm{Spin}(3) \cong \mathrm{SU}(2)Spin(3)≅SU(2),

Cl−(6,0)  ≅  8 Vj=1  ⊕  8 Vj=0,\mathrm{Cl}^-(6,0) \;\cong\; 8\,V_{j=1} \;\oplus\; 8\,V_{j=0},Cl−(6,0)≅8Vj=1​⊕8Vj=0​,

eight copies of the spin-1 module and eight copies of the trivial module. The goal deliberately asserts only the eigenspace dimensions and their spanning property — the decomposition shape — not any particular basis or pairing.

Stronger — the Cartan weight decomposition

T3-weights on Cl−(6,0):0 (multiplicity 16),+1 and −1 (multiplicity 8 each),T_3\text{-weights on } \mathrm{Cl}^-(6,0): \quad 0 \ \text{(multiplicity } 16\text{)}, \qquad +1 \ \text{and} \ -1 \ \text{(multiplicity } 8 \text{ each)},T3​-weights on Cl−(6,0):0 (multiplicity 16),+1 and −1 (multiplicity 8 each),

the three weight spaces spanning the sector. This refines the goal: each j=1j=1j=1 copy contributes weights −1,0,+1-1,0,+1−1,0,+1 and each j=0j=0j=0 copy contributes weight 000.

Significance

The result itself. The spectrum pins down exactly how an su(2)\mathfrak{su}(2)su(2) acting from inside the algebra sees the odd sector: not irreducibly, but as a clean 8⊕88 \oplus 88⊕8 multiplicity split between spin-1 and spin-0. In the LeanProofs program this decomposition is load-bearing for everything downstream that distinguishes "active" indices from "spectator" indices — the multiplicity 888 is the number of spectator degrees of freedom, and its appearance in the spectrum is what makes the split structural rather than coincidental. The weight decomposition further identifies the Cartan grading and is the natural first test case for any technology that must eventually handle larger Clifford algebras or other subalgebras.

Formalizing it. The computation is proved (structurally, by hand, in the research record) but not machine-checked. Everything needed lives in Mathlib: CliffordAlgebra, its Z2\mathbb{Z}_2Z2​ grading CliffordAlgebra.evenOdd, Submodule, LinearMap, Module.finrank. What the mission produces is a fully verified finite spectral computation inside Clifford algebra — a reusable certificate that the platform's Clifford and grading infrastructure supports exact representation-theoretic bookkeeping, not just algebraic identities.

Difficulty

The obstruction is bookkeeping, not ideas. The natural attack — split indices into active {0,2,5}\{0,2,5\}{0,2,5} and spectator {1,3,4}\{1,3,4\}{1,3,4}, decompose Cl(active)⊗Cl(spectator)\mathrm{Cl}(\text{active}) \otimes \mathrm{Cl}(\text{spectator})Cl(active)⊗Cl(spectator) as a tensor product of graded pieces, and read off the 8=238 = 2^38=23 multiplicity from the spectator sector — requires transferring the su(2)\mathfrak{su}(2)su(2) action across such a tensor decomposition, which Mathlib does not provide ready-made for Clifford algebras. A purely computational route (fix the 64-element blade basis, build the 32×3232 \times 3232×32 matrices of the TiT_iTi​ explicitly, compute kernels) is straightforwardly correct but laborious; making it readable is the real work. The statement is stated through arbitrary endomorphisms bound pointwise to the halved adjoint actions precisely so that solvers may choose either route.

Formalization scope

The mission commits to: the quadratic form Q60 as QuadraticMap.weightedSumSquares ℝ (fun _ : Fin 6 => 1); generators e6 i = CliffordAlgebra.ι Q60 (Pi.single i 1); the odd sector as the Mathlib-native CliffordAlgebra.evenOdd Q60 1; and the registered triple as products of two generators. All theorems quantify over endomorphism witnesses bound pointwise to 12 adEi\tfrac12\,\mathrm{ad}_{E_i}21​adEi​​, so no particular matrix realization is privileged. Spectra are stated as eigenspace decompositions with exact Module.finrank multiplicities — never as pointwise eigenvalue claims, which would be false for mixed vectors. No trivializing formalization exists: the multiplicities are hard constants, and the dimension gate (32) rules out statements about degenerate sector choices. The definition file is reusable for any future mission on Cl(6,0)\mathrm{Cl}(6,0)Cl(6,0); the su(2) relations and dimension gate are self-contained milestones. Contributions of either a structural (active/spectator split) or computational (explicit blade basis) proof are equally welcome.

Selected references

  • Lawson & Michelsohn, Spin Geometry, Princeton University Press, 1989 (Clifford algebra grading and structure).
  • MonumentalSystems, LeanProofs research record #2561 (2026): exact full-sector SU(2) decomposition of Cl−(6,0)\mathrm{Cl}^-(6,0)Cl−(6,0) with multiplicities, https://github.com/MonumentalSystems/LeanProofs
  • Mathlib, Mathlib.LinearAlgebra.CliffordAlgebra.Grading (the evenOdd grading used as the odd sector).
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Number TheoryRepresentation Theory·Captain: Lucas

Ngo's Fundamental Lemma II: Isogenies of Root Data and Paired GroupsResearch Paper

Motivation

Waldspurger's non-standard fundamental lemma is an identity between stable orbital integrals on the Lie algebras of two reductive groups that are not isomorphic, and not even isogenous as algebraic groups, but whose root data become identified after tensoring with Q\mathbb{Q}Q. The basic example is the pair (Sp2n,SO2n+1)(\mathrm{Sp}_{2n}, \mathrm{SO}_{2n+1})(Sp2n​,SO2n+1​), whose root systems CnC_nCn​ and BnB_nBn​ are exchanged by Langlands duality; the identity is what allows the twisted fundamental lemma to be deduced from the ordinary one. Waldspurger formulated the conjecture in L'endoscopie tordue n'est pas si tordue (2008); it is Theorem 1.12.7 of Bao Chau Ngo, Le lemme fondamental pour les algebres de Lie, Publ. Math. IHES 111 (2010), 1-169 (DOI), proved there in equal characteristic by the same Hitchin-fibration argument that gives the ordinary fundamental lemma.

Before any of that geometry can start, the two sides have to be compared: one needs a single Cartan subalgebra, a single Weyl group and a single space of characteristic polynomials serving both groups at once. Producing that comparison is a self-contained piece of linear algebra over the root data, carried out in Ngo's §1.12, and it is what this mission asks for.

Setting

Let G1G_1G1​ and G2G_2G2​ be split reductive groups over a field, pinned, with maximal tori T1T_1T1​ and T2T_2T2​. Each is determined by its root datum (X∗(Ti),X∗(Ti),Φi,Φi∨,Δi)(X^*(T_i), X_*(T_i), \Phi_i, \Phi_i^\vee, \Delta_i)(X∗(Ti​),X∗​(Ti​),Φi​,Φi∨​,Δi​), where Φi\Phi_iΦi​ is the set of roots, Φi∨\Phi_i^\veeΦi∨​ the set of coroots and Δi\Delta_iΔi​ the set of simple roots singled out by the pinning.

An isogeny of root data between G1G_1G1​ and G2G_2G2​ (Ngo, Definition 1.12.1) is a pair of isomorphisms of Q\mathbb{Q}Q-vector spaces

ψ∗:X∗(T2)⊗Q⟶X∗(T1)⊗Q,ψ∗:X∗(T1)⊗Q⟶X∗(T2)⊗Q\psi^* : X^*(T_2)\otimes\mathbb{Q} \longrightarrow X^*(T_1)\otimes\mathbb{Q}, \qquad \psi_* : X_*(T_1)\otimes\mathbb{Q} \longrightarrow X_*(T_2)\otimes\mathbb{Q}ψ∗:X∗(T2​)⊗Q⟶X∗(T1​)⊗Q,ψ∗​:X∗​(T1​)⊗Q⟶X∗​(T2​)⊗Q

which are transposes of one another, such that ψ∗\psi^*ψ∗ carries the set of lines Qα2\mathbb{Q}\alpha_2Qα2​ (α2∈Φ2\alpha_2 \in \Phi_2α2​∈Φ2​) bijectively onto the set of lines Qα1\mathbb{Q}\alpha_1Qα1​ (α1∈Φ1\alpha_1\in\Phi_1α1​∈Φ1​), matching lines of simple roots with lines of simple roots, and such that ψ∗\psi_*ψ∗​ has the same property for the lines spanned by coroots. Two semisimple groups with the same adjoint group are isogenous in this sense; so are a group and its Langlands dual, the interesting cases being Bn↔CnB_n \leftrightarrow C_nBn​↔Cn​, F4F_4F4​ and G2G_2G2​, where a short root α\alphaα is sent to αˇ\check\alphaαˇ and a long root to nαˇn\check\alphanαˇ with n=∣αlong∣2/∣αshort∣2n = |\alpha_{\mathrm{long}}|^2/|\alpha_{\mathrm{short}}|^2n=∣αlong​∣2/∣αshort​∣2. Groups obtained by twisting a pair of isogenous pinned groups by a common torsor are called paired.

A prime ppp is good with respect to ψ∗\psi^*ψ∗ when it divides neither of the indices

∣X∗(T1)/(X∗(T1)∩X∗(T2))∣and∣X∗(T2)/(X∗(T1)∩X∗(T2))∣,\bigl|X_*(T_1)/(X_*(T_1)\cap X_*(T_2))\bigr| \quad\text{and}\quad \bigl|X_*(T_2)/(X_*(T_1)\cap X_*(T_2))\bigr|,​X∗​(T1​)/(X∗​(T1​)∩X∗​(T2​))​and​X∗​(T2​)/(X∗​(T1​)∩X∗​(T2​))​,

the two lattices being compared inside the single Q\mathbb{Q}Q-vector space identified by ψ∗\psi_*ψ∗​.

Formalization targets

Goal (1.12.4 and 1.12.6): the Weyl groups are identified compatibly

ψ∗ w ψ∗−1∈W2for all w∈W1,and conversely,\psi_* \, w \, \psi_*^{-1} \in W_2 \quad \text{for all } w \in W_1, \qquad\text{and conversely,}ψ∗​wψ∗−1​∈W2​for all w∈W1​,and conversely,

i.e. conjugation by ψ∗\psi_*ψ∗​ carries the Weyl group W1W_1W1​ acting on X∗(T1)⊗QX_*(T_1)\otimes\mathbb{Q}X∗​(T1​)⊗Q onto the Weyl group W2W_2W2​ acting on X∗(T2)⊗QX_*(T_2)\otimes\mathbb{Q}X∗​(T2​)⊗Q. Ngo's reason is that the reflection attached to a root depends only on the line through that root, so the bijection of root lines transports reflections to reflections. This equivariance is what makes the induced isomorphism t1→t2\mathfrak{t}_1 \to \mathfrak{t}_2t1​→t2​ descend to an isomorphism ν:cG1→cG2\nu : \mathfrak{c}_{G_1} \to \mathfrak{c}_{G_2}ν:cG1​​→cG2​​ of the spaces of characteristic polynomials, which is Lemme 1.12.6 and which is what allows two points a1a_1a1​ and a2a_2a2​ with ν(a1)=a2\nu(a_1) = a_2ν(a1​)=a2​ to be compared at all.

Milestones

Two steps lead there: the reflection computation that makes a matched pair of root lines give a matched pair of reflections, and the integral statement behind Ngo's good-characteristic hypothesis — that when the two indices above are invertible in the base ring, the two lattices become identified after base change.

Significance

Theorem 1.12.7, the non-standard fundamental lemma, asserts that for two paired groups over Ov=k[[ϖ]]O_v = k[[\varpi]]Ov​=k[[ϖ]] with residue characteristic exceeding twice the Coxeter numbers, and for points a1a_1a1​ and a2a_2a2​ corresponding under ν\nuν, the stable orbital integrals of the characteristic functions of g1(Ov)\mathfrak{g}_1(O_v)g1​(Ov​) and g2(Ov)\mathfrak{g}_2(O_v)g2​(Ov​) agree. Waldspurger showed that this identity, together with the ordinary fundamental lemma, implies the twisted fundamental lemma. None of the objects in that statement — reductive group schemes over a discrete valuation ring, orbital integrals, Haar measures on the centralizer tori — exists in Mathlib today. The comparison of §1.12 does not need any of them: it is a statement about lattices, root systems and Weyl groups, and it is a strict prerequisite, since without the isomorphism ν\nuν the two sides of Theorem 1.12.7 cannot even be matched up.

Beyond this paper, the notion of an isogeny of root data and the good-characteristic base change of a pair of lattices are reusable: they are the standard bookkeeping behind Langlands duality for split groups, and neither is currently available.

Difficulty

The reflection step looks like a one-line computation and is one — but only once the two proportionality constants are known to agree. If ψ∗(α2)=c α1\psi^*(\alpha_2) = c\,\alpha_1ψ∗(α2​)=cα1​ and ψ∗(α1∨)=c′ α2∨\psi_*(\alpha_1^\vee) = c'\,\alpha_2^\veeψ∗​(α1∨​)=c′α2∨​, the conjugate of sα1s_{\alpha_1}sα1​​ is sα2s_{\alpha_2}sα2​​ exactly when c=c′c = c'c=c′, and that is forced by transposition together with ⟨α,α∨⟩=2\langle\alpha,\alpha^\vee\rangle = 2⟨α,α∨⟩=2. The genuine difficulty in the goal is different: the definition only says that ψ∗\psi^*ψ∗ and ψ∗\psi_*ψ∗​ permute lines, so one has to show that the bijection induced on root lines and the bijection induced on coroot lines are the same bijection. A solver who assumes this without proof has assumed the substance of 1.12.4.

The lattice milestone has its own trap: the quotient Λ1/(Λ1∩Λ2)\Lambda_1/(\Lambda_1\cap\Lambda_2)Λ1​/(Λ1​∩Λ2​) must be shown to have vanishing Tor\mathrm{Tor}Tor after base change, not merely to vanish, or the inclusion becomes only surjective.

Formalization scope

Root data are modelled by Mathlib's RootPairing ι ℚ M N, with MMM the character space, NNN the cocharacter space, and rational coefficients throughout, so that "tensoring with Q\mathbb{Q}Q" is built into the ambient objects rather than performed explicitly. A choice of simple roots is recorded as a subset of the index type rather than as a RootPairing.Base; nothing in the statements depends on that subset beyond its role in the definition of an isogeny. The Weyl group is the subgroup of linear automorphisms of the cocharacter space generated by the coreflections, which is the form in which it acts on the Cartan.

The goal is stated as a two-sided intertwining property rather than as an equality of subgroups: every element of W1W_1W1​ is intertwined by ψ∗\psi_*ψ∗​ with some element of W2W_2W2​ and conversely. This avoids introducing a conjugation homomorphism, and it is the form in which the statement is used. Both root pairings in the goal are required to be finite, reduced root systems, matching Ngo's hypothesis that G1G_1G1​ and G2G_2G2​ are reductive groups.

The good-characteristic condition is formalized exactly as Ngo writes it, by the invertibility in the base ring of the two indices, each expressed as the cardinality of an explicit quotient group; the conclusion is the bijectivity of the map induced on the tensor product by the inclusion of the intersection. If a quotient were infinite its cardinality is reported as 000, and invertibility of 000 then forces the base ring to be trivial, so no false statement hides in that corner.

No statement here is vacuous: any pair consisting of a root system and itself, with ψ∗\psi^*ψ∗ and ψ∗\psi_*ψ∗​ the identity, satisfies every hypothesis, and the pair (Bn,Cn)(B_n, C_n)(Bn​,Cn​) gives the intended non-trivial instances.

Selected references

  • Bao Chau Ngo, Le lemme fondamental pour les algebres de Lie, Publ. Math. IHES 111 (2010), 1-169. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10240-010-0026-7
  • J.-L. Waldspurger, L'endoscopie tordue n'est pas si tordue, Mem. Amer. Math. Soc. 908 (2008). https://doi.org/10.1090/memo/0908
  • J.-L. Waldspurger, Le lemme fondamental implique le transfert, Compositio Math. 105 (1997), 153-236. https://doi.org/10.1023/A:1000103112268
  • T. A. Springer, Reductive groups, in Automorphic Forms, Representations and L-functions, Proc. Sympos. Pure Math. 33 (1979), 3-27. https://doi.org/10.1090/pspum/033.1
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Captain: Lucas

Liouville's theorem (differential algebra)Textbook

Motivation

Some elementary functions, such as e−x2e^{-x^2}e−x2, sin⁡(x)/x\sin(x)/xsin(x)/x and xxx^xxx, have antiderivatives that cannot be written as elementary functions. Liouville's theorem, formulated by Joseph Liouville between 1833 and 1841, is the algebraic statement that explains when an elementary antiderivative can exist: if a function has an elementary antiderivative at all, then that antiderivative lies in the differential field of the function, plus finitely many logarithms. The theorem underlies the Risch algorithm for symbolic integration, which relies on it to find any elementary antiderivative.

Setting

A differential field is a field FFF together with a derivation D:F→FD : F \to FD:F→F, i.e. an additive map satisfying D(ab)=a Db+b DaD(ab) = a\,Db + b\,DaD(ab)=aDb+bDa. Its constants form the subfield

Con⁡(F)={f∈F:Df=0}.\operatorname{Con}(F) = \{ f \in F : Df = 0 \}.Con(F)={f∈F:Df=0}.

Let G⊇FG \supseteq FG⊇F be a differential field extension (the derivation of GGG restricts to that of FFF).

  • GGG is a logarithmic extension of FFF if G=F(t)G = F(t)G=F(t) with ttt transcendental over FFF and Dt=Ds/sDt = Ds/sDt=Ds/s for some nonzero s∈Fs \in Fs∈F (so ttt behaves like log⁡s\log slogs).
  • GGG is an exponential extension of FFF if G=F(t)G = F(t)G=F(t) with ttt transcendental over FFF and Dt/t=DsDt/t = DsDt/t=Ds for some s∈Fs \in Fs∈F (so ttt behaves like ese^{s}es).
  • GGG is an elementary differential extension of FFF if there is a finite chain of subfields F=K0⊆K1⊆⋯⊆Km=GF = K_0 \subseteq K_1 \subseteq \cdots \subseteq K_m = GF=K0​⊆K1​⊆⋯⊆Km​=G in which every step Ki+1=Ki(ti)K_{i+1} = K_i(t_i)Ki+1​=Ki​(ti​) is algebraic, logarithmic or exponential.

The running example is C(x)\mathbb{C}(x)C(x), the field of rational functions in one variable with the standard derivative d/dxd/dxd/dx.

Formalization targets

Goal: Liouville's theorem

Let F⊆GF \subseteq GF⊆G be differential fields of characteristic zero with Con⁡(F)=Con⁡(G)\operatorname{Con}(F) = \operatorname{Con}(G)Con(F)=Con(G), and let GGG be an elementary differential extension of FFF. If f∈Ff \in Ff∈F and g∈Gg \in Gg∈G satisfy Dg=fDg = fDg=f, then there are n≥0n \ge 0n≥0, constants c1,…,cn∈Con⁡(F)c_1, \dots, c_n \in \operatorname{Con}(F)c1​,…,cn​∈Con(F) and nonzero f1,…,fn∈Ff_1, \dots, f_n \in Ff1​,…,fn​∈F, and s∈Fs \in Fs∈F with

f=c1Df1f1+⋯+cnDfnfn+Ds.f = c_1 \frac{Df_1}{f_1} + \cdots + c_n \frac{Df_n}{f_n} + Ds.f=c1​f1​Df1​​+⋯+cn​fn​Dfn​​+Ds.

Milestones from the article

  1. The constants Con⁡(F)\operatorname{Con}(F)Con(F) form a subfield of FFF.
  2. C(x)\mathbb{C}(x)C(x) carries a (unique) derivation extending the formal derivative of polynomials.
  3. Con⁡(C(x))=C\operatorname{Con}(\mathbb{C}(x)) = \mathbb{C}Con(C(x))=C.
  4. 1/x1/x1/x has no antiderivative in C(x)\mathbb{C}(x)C(x).
  5. The antiderivatives ln⁡x+C\ln x + Clnx+C of 1/x1/x1/x exist in the logarithmic extension C(x,ln⁡x)\mathbb{C}(x, \ln x)C(x,lnx).
  6. 1/(x2+1)1/(x^2+1)1/(x2+1) has no antiderivative in C(x)\mathbb{C}(x)C(x).
  7. 1x2+1=12i Duu\displaystyle \frac{1}{x^2+1} = \frac{1}{2i}\,\frac{Du}{u}x2+11​=2i1​uDu​ with u=1+ix1−ixu = \frac{1+ix}{1-ix}u=1−ix1+ix​, i.e. tan⁡−1x=12iln⁡1+ix1−ix\tan^{-1} x = \frac{1}{2i}\ln\frac{1+ix}{1-ix}tan−1x=2i1​ln1−ix1+ix​ has the form required by the theorem.

Significance

The theorem reduces the question of whether an integral is elementary to a question about the base differential field. That reduction is what makes decision procedures for integration in finite terms (the Risch algorithm) possible, and it is the standard route to proving that e−x2e^{-x^2}e−x2, sin⁡(x)/x\sin(x)/xsin(x)/x or xxx^xxx have no elementary antiderivative.

The result is classical and proved (Liouville; modern algebraic proof by Rosenlicht; textbook proof in Geddes–Czapor–Labahn, §12.4). Mathlib contains a formalization of the algebraic-extension part of the argument (IsLiouville, isLiouville_of_finiteDimensional in Mathlib/FieldTheory/Differential/Liouville.lean); the logarithmic and exponential steps and the full theorem for elementary extensions are the remaining work.

Difficulty

The algebraic steps can be handled by taking traces. The central difficulty is the transcendental steps: for a logarithmic or exponential generator ttt one must show, by comparing partial-fraction expansions in ttt and degrees in ttt, that an expression of the Liouville form over K(t)K(t)K(t) can be pushed down to one over KKK. This needs the hypothesis that no new constants appear. The induction must also track how constants and logarithmic derivatives behave along the whole chain.

Formalization scope

A differential field is a Mathlib Field with a Differential instance (a derivation over Z\mathbb{Z}Z, written a′a'a′); the extension F⊆GF \subseteq GF⊆G is an Algebra F G with DifferentialAlgebra F G, i.e. DDD commutes with the embedding. The chain of the elementary extension is a sequence of IntermediateField F G, starting at ⊥\bot⊥ and ending at ⊤\top⊤. Each step adjoins a single element, which is algebraic, logarithmic, or exponential over the previous field, and every derivative is computed in GGG. Characteristic zero is assumed (CharZero F). The article does not state it, but it is the standing convention of the theorem in its standard sources. Con⁡(F)=Con⁡(G)\operatorname{Con}(F) = \operatorname{Con}(G)Con(F)=Con(G) is stated as the equality of the image of Con⁡(F)\operatorname{Con}(F)Con(F) with Con⁡(G)\operatorname{Con}(G)Con(G). In the conclusion, the fif_ifi​ are required to be nonzero, so the quotients Dfi/fiDf_i/f_iDfi​/fi​ carry no division-by-zero junk.

For the C(x)\mathbb{C}(x)C(x) examples, C(x)\mathbb{C}(x)C(x) is Mathlib's RatFunc ℂ. Mathlib does not provide its derivative, so the examples take an arbitrary derivation satisfying IsStandardDerivation (it agrees with the formal derivative on polynomials). Milestone 2 asserts that exactly one such derivation exists, so the examples are not vacuous.

Selected references

  • J. Liouville, Premier / Second mémoire sur la détermination des intégrales dont la valeur est algébrique, J. École Polytechnique XIV (1833), 124–193.
  • M. Rosenlicht, Integration in finite terms, Amer. Math. Monthly 79 (1972), 963–972. https://doi.org/10.2307/2318066
  • K. O. Geddes, S. R. Czapor, G. Labahn, Algorithms for Computer Algebra, Kluwer, 1992, §12.4.
  • Wikipedia, Liouville's theorem (differential algebra), oldid 1349223559.
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Numerical Analysis·Captain: Lucas

Métodos Numéricos (Freitas) III: Sistemas Lineares e a Convergência de Gauss-SeidelTextbook

Motivation

Linear systems are the inner loop of scientific computing: discretized differential equations, least-squares fitting, network flow balances and equilibrium models all end in Ax=bAx = bAx=b. Direct elimination solves the system exactly in O(n3)O(n^3)O(n3) operations, but for the large sparse systems produced by discretization the cost and the round-off growth make iterative methods preferable: start from an arbitrary vector and apply a cheap update until the residual is small. The question such a method raises is when the iteration converges, and to that the chapter gives a clean sufficient answer: diagonal dominance.

This mission is the third in a series formalizing the lecture notes Métodos Numéricos by Sergio Roberto de Freitas (UFMS, 2000). It covers the iterative part of Chapter 5, Solução de Sistemas Lineares.

Setting

Let A=(aij)A = (a_{ij})A=(aij​) be a real ntimesnn \\times nntimesn matrix and binmathbbRnb \\in \\mathbb{R}^nbinmathbbRn. Assume aiineq0a_{ii} \\neq 0aii​neq0 for all iii.

The Jacobi method computes every coordinate of the new iterate from the old one:

xi(k+1)=frac1aiileft(bi−sumjneqiaijxj(k)right).x_i^{(k+1)} = \\frac{1}{a_{ii}}\\left(b_i - \\sum_{j \\neq i} a_{ij} x_j^{(k)}\\right).xi(k+1)​=frac1aii​left(bi​−sumjneqi​aij​xj(k)​right).

The Gauss-Seidel method updates the coordinates in order i=1,dots,ni = 1, \\dots, ni=1,dots,n and uses the values already updated in the same sweep:

xi(k+1)=frac1aiileft(bi−sumj<iaijxj(k+1)−sumj>iaijxj(k)right).x_i^{(k+1)} = \\frac{1}{a_{ii}}\\left(b_i - \\sum_{j < i} a_{ij}x_j^{(k+1)} - \\sum_{j > i} a_{ij}x_j^{(k)}\\right).xi(k+1)​=frac1aii​left(bi​−sumj<i​aij​xj(k+1)​−sumj>i​aij​xj(k)​right).

Both are instances of an affine iteration x(k+1)=Bx(k)+dx^{(k+1)} = Bx^{(k)} + dx(k+1)=Bx(k)+d associated with an equivalent rewriting Ax=biffx=Bx+dAx = b \\iff x = Bx + dAx=biffx=Bx+d.

The matrix AAA is diagonally dominant when each diagonal entry dominates its row:

∣aii∣>sumjneqi∣aij∣qquad(i=1,dots,n).|a_{ii}| > \\sum_{j \\neq i} |a_{ij}| \\qquad (i = 1, \\dots, n).∣aii​∣>sumjneqi​∣aij​∣qquad(i=1,dots,n).

Target

The goal theorem is Proposição 5.10.1: if AAA is diagonally dominant and x^\\star solves Ax^\\star = b, then the Gauss-Seidel iterates converge to x^\\star from any starting vector.

The milestones are the general facts the source uses to get there: that the limit of a convergent affine iteration is a fixed point of it and hence a solution of the system (Proposição 5.5.1), that a contraction condition lVertBvrVertleclVertvrVert\\lVert Bv \\rVert \\le c\\lVert v \\rVertlVertBvrVertleclVertvrVert with c<1c < 1c<1 forces convergence to the solution (Proposição 5.5.3), and that the Jacobi sweep has exactly the solutions of Ax=bAx = bAx=b as its fixed points (Proposição 5.5.2).

Significance

Diagonal dominance is the hypothesis a practitioner can check by inspection, and it is satisfied by the matrices that come from standard finite-difference stencils, from strictly diagonally dominant collocation systems and from many equilibrium models. The theorem says that for those systems Gauss-Seidel needs no spectral analysis and no preconditioner to be safe: convergence holds from any starting vector. The supporting milestones isolate the two halves of the argument — a fixed-point identification and a contraction estimate — in a form reusable for other splittings (Jacobi, SOR, block variants).

Mathlib has Banach's fixed point theorem and the theory of matrix norms, but not the Gauss-Seidel sweep, the notion of diagonal dominance as used here, or the convergence statement, which is what this mission adds.

Difficulty

Gauss-Seidel is not a plain affine map applied coordinatewise: within one sweep the coordinates are updated sequentially, so the new value of coordinate iii depends on the new values of coordinates j<ij < ij<i. Formalizing the sweep therefore requires a recursion over the coordinate index before the recursion over the iteration counter, and the contraction estimate has to be propagated along that inner recursion. The classical proof compares \\max_i |x_i^{(k+1)} - x_i^\\star| with \\max_i |x_i^{(k)} - x_i^\\star| and needs, for each iii, a bound that already uses the improved bounds for j<ij < ij<i; getting that induction right is the substance of the mission.

Formalization scope

Vectors are functions from a finite index type with nnn elements to mathbbR\\mathbb{R}mathbbR, and convergence is convergence in that finite product space (equivalently, coordinatewise). The Gauss-Seidel sweep is defined through an auxiliary partial sweep: after kkk inner steps the first kkk coordinates carry their new values and the remaining ones their old values, and the full sweep is the partial sweep after nnn steps. The Jacobi sweep is defined directly. Diagonal dominance is the strict inequality above, with the sum taken over the row with the diagonal index removed; for n=0n = 0n=0 every statement is vacuous, and the goal theorem is then trivially true because the space has a single point. Division by the diagonal entry is total division, so the definitions make sense even when aii=0a_{ii} = 0aii​=0; diagonal dominance rules that out, because the right-hand side of the dominance inequality is nonnegative. The goal theorem assumes a solution x^\\star is given rather than asserting its existence, and it asserts convergence for every starting vector, generalizing the source's choice x(0)=0x^{(0)} = 0x(0)=0. The contraction milestone states the consistency of the norms as the hypothesis lVertBvrVertleclVertvrVert\\lVert Bv \\rVert \\le c \\lVert v \\rVertlVertBvrVertleclVertvrVert in the supremum norm rather than fixing a particular matrix norm.

Selected references

  • S. R. Freitas, Métodos Numéricos, Departamento de Computação e Estatística, Universidade Federal de Mato Grosso do Sul, 2000. Chapter 5, Solução de Sistemas Lineares, pp. 85–118. (Course notes supplied with this mission.)
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Group TheoryNumber Theory·Captain: Lucas

The Inverse Galois ProblemOpen Problem

Motivation

Galois theory attaches to every finite Galois extension L/KL/KL/K a finite group Gal(L/K)\mathrm{Gal}(L/K)Gal(L/K), the group of field automorphisms of LLL fixing KKK pointwise, and the fundamental theorem of Galois theory turns the subfield structure of L/KL/KL/K into the subgroup structure of that group. The inverse Galois problem asks whether this correspondence is surjective over the rationals: given an arbitrary finite group GGG, is there a Galois extension L/QL/\mathbb{Q}L/Q with Gal(L/Q)≅G\mathrm{Gal}(L/\mathbb{Q}) \cong GGal(L/Q)≅G? The question was posed in the early nineteenth century and is unsolved.

What makes it a live research question rather than a curiosity is that the known positive results come from genuinely different sources, and none of them covers all finite groups.

  • Cyclic and, more generally, finite abelian groups are realizable over Q\mathbb{Q}Q by an explicit cyclotomic construction resting on Dirichlet's theorem on primes in arithmetic progressions.
  • Symmetric and alternating groups are realizable over Q\mathbb{Q}Q; this is due to Hilbert, who realized them first over the rational function field Q(t)\mathbb{Q}(t)Q(t) and then specialized ttt using his irreducibility theorem.
  • Every finite solvable group is realizable over Q\mathbb{Q}Q; this is Shafarevich's theorem (I. R. Shafarevich, The imbedding problem for splitting extensions, Dokl. Akad. Nauk SSSR 120 (1958), 1217–1219), obtained by solving embedding problems.
  • Over C(t)\mathbb{C}(t)C(t) — and over K(t)K(t)K(t) for any algebraically closed KKK of characteristic zero — every finite group is realizable, by the Riemann existence theorem. The obstruction to the goal is not the group theory; it is descending the field of constants to Q\mathbb{Q}Q.
  • Case-by-case work covers large finite lists: all transitive permutation groups of degree at most 232323, and every sporadic simple group, are known to be realizable over Q\mathbb{Q}Q.

Setting

Fix a field KKK and a group GGG. A Galois realization of GGG over KKK is a field LLL equipped with a KKK-algebra structure such that the extension L/KL/KL/K is Galois — normal and separable — together with a group isomorphism

G  ≅  Gal(L/K),G \;\cong\; \mathrm{Gal}(L/K),G≅Gal(L/K),

where Gal(L/K)\mathrm{Gal}(L/K)Gal(L/K) denotes the group of KKK-algebra automorphisms of LLL under composition. The group GGG is realizable over KKK, written IsRealizable K G, when at least one Galois realization of GGG over KKK exists. No finiteness of L/KL/KL/K is imposed in the definition; it is automatic once GGG is finite, because an infinite Galois extension has infinite automorphism group.

Two base fields beyond Q\mathbb{Q}Q appear throughout. K(t)K(t)K(t) denotes the field of rational functions in one variable over KKK, written RatFunc K; and for the statement that a group is realizable over some number field, the base field ranges over the intermediate fields of C/Q\mathbb{C}/\mathbb{Q}C/Q.

Formalization targets

Goal — the inverse Galois problem

for every finite group G,∃ L/Q Galois with Gal(L/Q)≅G.\text{for every finite group } G, \qquad \exists\, L/\mathbb{Q} \text{ Galois with } \mathrm{Gal}(L/\mathbb{Q}) \cong G.for every finite group G,∃L/Q Galois with Gal(L/Q)≅G.

The goal fixes no degree, no polynomial and no construction: it asserts only the shape of the truth, so no later refinement of the known constructions can invalidate it.

Milestones — the known partial results

G cyclic  ⟹  G realizable over Q,G abelian  ⟹  G realizable over Q,G \text{ cyclic} \;\Longrightarrow\; G \text{ realizable over } \mathbb{Q}, \qquad G \text{ abelian} \;\Longrightarrow\; G \text{ realizable over } \mathbb{Q},G cyclic⟹G realizable over Q,G abelian⟹G realizable over Q, Sym(S),  An realizable over Q,G solvable  ⟹  G realizable over Q,\mathrm{Sym}(S),\; A_n \text{ realizable over } \mathbb{Q}, \qquad G \text{ solvable} \;\Longrightarrow\; G \text{ realizable over } \mathbb{Q},Sym(S),An​ realizable over Q,G solvable⟹G realizable over Q, ∃ K, Q⊆K⊆C, G realizable over K,\exists\, K,\ \mathbb{Q} \subseteq K \subseteq \mathbb{C},\ G \text{ realizable over } K,∃K, Q⊆K⊆C, G realizable over K, G realizable over C(t),G realizable over K(t) (K algebraically closed, char 0),G \text{ realizable over } \mathbb{C}(t), \qquad G \text{ realizable over } K(t) \ (K \text{ algebraically closed, char } 0),G realizable over C(t),G realizable over K(t) (K algebraically closed, char 0), G realizable over Q(t)  ⟹  G realizable over Q.G \text{ realizable over } \mathbb{Q}(t) \;\Longrightarrow\; G \text{ realizable over } \mathbb{Q}.G realizable over Q(t)⟹G realizable over Q.

The last milestone is the Hilbert-irreducibility descent step; together with the geometric milestones it makes precise which half of the classical programme is missing.

Significance

The result itself would settle a two-century-old question and, with it, the surjectivity of the Galois correspondence over Q\mathbb{Q}Q: every abstract finite group would be known to arise from an explicit arithmetic object, a polynomial with rational coefficients. Its absence is felt in practice — constructing a single new Galois group over Q\mathbb{Q}Q is publishable work, as the recent additions of the degree-171717 group 17T717T717T7 (van Bommel–Costa–Elkies–Keller–Schiavone–Voight, 2024) and of the Mathieu group M23M_{23}M23​ show.

Formalizing it produces something available today independently of the goal: a machine-checked library of the known realizability results. Mathlib has the fundamental theorem of Galois theory, cyclotomic extensions, the Kronecker–Weber theorem, solvability of groups and symmetric/alternating group theory, but it does not have a predicate for "GGG is a Galois group over KKK", nor any of the milestones above. Every milestone here is a proved theorem of classical number theory and an unformalized one; the cyclic and abelian cases are within reach of current Mathlib, while the Shafarevich and Riemann-existence milestones are substantial formalization projects in their own right.

Difficulty

The obvious strategy fails at a well-understood point. Over C(t)\mathbb{C}(t)C(t) the problem is solved: by the Riemann existence theorem every finite group occurs as the deck-transformation group of a branched cover of the projective line. Hilbert's irreducibility theorem then descends realizability from Q(t)\mathbb{Q}(t)Q(t) to Q\mathbb{Q}Q. What is missing is the step in between: producing the cover over Q\mathbb{Q}Q rather than over C\mathbb{C}C, i.e. showing that the geometric solution can be chosen with rational field of constants. The rigidity method makes this work for many groups, but there is no known argument covering all of them; an approach that only produces realizability over some number field is not enough, and that weaker statement is included as a milestone precisely to mark the line.

A second, purely formal difficulty: the milestones are classical but their published proofs are long. Shafarevich's theorem rests on a delicate analysis of embedding problems, and the Riemann existence theorem is analytic input that Mathlib does not currently have in the required form.

Formalization scope

The mission fixes one definition file, published first, carrying the structure GaloisRealization and the one-field class IsRealizable. Conventions it commits to:

  • IsGalois K L is Mathlib's Galois condition (normal and separable); finiteness of the extension is not assumed.
  • The isomorphism is with the full automorphism group L≃alg[K]LL \simeq_{\mathrm{alg}[K]} LL≃alg[K]​L, not with a quotient or a subgroup of it.
  • The carrier LLL of a realization is required to live in the same universe as KKK. This costs no generality for the statements of the mission — for finite GGG a realization is a finite extension of KKK — and keeps every statement universe-monomorphic.
  • Sym(S)\mathrm{Sym}(S)Sym(S) is Equiv.Perm S for a finite type SSS, and AnA_nAn​ is alternatingGroup (Fin n); degenerate small cases are included rather than excluded.
  • Solvability is Group.IsSolvable.

The statements cannot be satisfied vacuously: IsRealizable K G asserts the existence of data, so a solver must exhibit an extension; and the hypotheses of the milestones (cyclic, abelian, solvable, or none at all) are all satisfiable, so no milestone is empty. The one conditional milestone, Hilbert descent, is stated with realizability over Q(t)\mathbb{Q}(t)Q(t) as an explicit hypothesis.

Infrastructure a complete development needs, most of it reusable well beyond this mission: transport of a Galois realization along an isomorphism of groups and along an isomorphism of base fields; the fixed-field construction and the fundamental theorem in the form "Gal(L/LH)≅H\mathrm{Gal}(L/L^H) \cong HGal(L/LH)≅H"; Galois groups of cyclotomic fields; Dirichlet's theorem on primes in arithmetic progressions (already in Mathlib); Hilbert's irreducibility theorem (not in Mathlib). Contributions of any of these as reusable platform definitions or lemmas are welcome, as are decompositions of the harder milestones into sketches.

Selected references

  • Inverse Galois problem, Wikipedia. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Inverse_Galois_problem
  • I. R. Shafarevich, The imbedding problem for splitting extensions, Dokl. Akad. Nauk SSSR 120 (1958), 1217–1219.
  • C. U. Jensen, A. Ledet, N. Yui, Generic Polynomials: Constructive Aspects of the Inverse Galois Problem, MSRI Publications 45, Cambridge University Press, 2002. http://library.msri.org/books/Book45/files/book45.pdf
  • G. Malle, B. H. Matzat, Inverse Galois Theory, Springer Monographs in Mathematics, 1999.
  • R. van Bommel, E. Costa, N. D. Elkies, T. Keller, S. Schiavone, J. Voight, 17T7 is a Galois group over the rationals, arXiv:2411.07857, 2024. https://arxiv.org/abs/2411.07857
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Captain: mysticflounder

Equational Magmas: E677 → E255 (finite case)Open Problem

Motivation

An equation for a magma constrains a binary operation without assuming that it is associative, commutative, or has an identity. Determining which equations force other equations separates the consequences of a single law from familiar properties that require additional assumptions. Restricting the underlying set to be finite can change the answer: a structural argument may depend on the fact that a surjective self-map of a finite set is injective.

The Equational Theories Project studies these implications systematically. Its December 2025 paper reports the finite implication from E677 to E255 as unresolved, while reporting a counterexample to the implication when infinite magmas are allowed. The paper also tentatively conjectures that a finite counterexample exists. This mission makes the affirmative implication its formal target and also accepts a rigorous refutation of the complete finite statement.

This mission treats the universal target as open. Supporting structural facts and conditional reductions are separately identified, so that progress on one does not assert completion of the target.

Setting

A magma here is a type AAA with a total binary operation ⋄:A×A→A\diamond:A\times A\to A⋄:A×A→A. Parentheses specify the order of evaluation throughout; no reassociation is permitted. The condition E677 means

∀x,y∈A,x=y⋄(x⋄((y⋄x)⋄y)).\forall x,y\in A,\quad x=y\diamond\bigl(x\diamond((y\diamond x)\diamond y)\bigr).∀x,y∈A,x=y⋄(x⋄((y⋄x)⋄y)).

The condition E255 means

∀x∈A,x=((x⋄x)⋄x)⋄x.\forall x\in A,\quad x=((x\diamond x)\diamond x)\diamond x.∀x∈A,x=((x⋄x)⋄x)⋄x.

These are the two laws used in Chapter 13 of the project blueprint. For a fixed element yyy, the left multiplication map is Ly(x)=y⋄xL_y(x)=y\diamond xLy​(x)=y⋄x. A fixer for xxx is an element yyy satisfying y⋄x=xy\diamond x=xy⋄x=x. This definition concerns one element xxx; it does not require yyy to act as an identity on every element.

Formalization targets

The supporting targets expose the relevant distinction between a constraint on a possible fixer and the existence of a fixer. For every finite AAA satisfying E677, the first supporting statement is

∀y∈A,Ly is bijective.\forall y\in A,\quad L_y\text{ is bijective}.∀y∈A,Ly​ is bijective.

The second supporting statement specifies any fixer:

∀x,y∈A,y⋄x=x ⟹ y=(x⋄x)⋄x.\forall x,y\in A,\quad y\diamond x=x\ \Longrightarrow\ y=(x\diamond x)\diamond x.∀x,y∈A,y⋄x=x ⟹ y=(x⋄x)⋄x.

The third supporting statement is the backward recurrence

∀x,y∈A,x=(y⋄x)⋄((y⋄(y⋄x))⋄y).\forall x,y\in A,\quad x=(y\diamond x)\diamond\bigl((y\diamond(y\diamond x))\diamond y\bigr).∀x,y∈A,x=(y⋄x)⋄((y⋄(y⋄x))⋄y).

These supporting statements come from ETP blueprint Lemma 13.1(i)–(iii); local direct proof files accompany their statements. The following universal fixer-existence assertion is retained as an explicit equivalent reformulation:

∀x∈A,∃y∈A,y⋄x=x.\forall x\in A,\quad\exists y\in A,\quad y\diamond x=x.∀x∈A,∃y∈A,y⋄x=x.

The mission goal is

∀ finite magmas A,E677⁡(A) ⟹ E255⁡(A).\forall\text{ finite magmas }A,\quad \operatorname{E677}(A)\ \Longrightarrow\ \operatorname{E255}(A).∀ finite magmas A,E677(A) ⟹ E255(A).

For finite E677 magmas, fixer existence is equivalent to E255: E255 supplies the fixer (x⋄x)⋄x(x\diamond x)\diamond x(x⋄x)⋄x, and Lemma 13.1(ii) converts any fixer into E255. Thus it is not presented as a strictly weaker milestone.

The active open milestone is an orbit-local producer statement. For a fixed xxx, if two elements in the forward orbit x,Lx(x),Lx2(x),…x,L_x(x),L_x^2(x),\ldotsx,Lx​(x),Lx2​(x),… have equal right products by xxx, they must be equal unless xxx has a fixer. This isolates a genuine structural step without asserting a fixer for every element. None of the displayed statements restricts the cardinality to a tested range.

Significance

A resolution determines whether this particular law gains E255 as a consequence upon restriction to finite carriers. An affirmative proof must cover every finite cardinality, every operation on each carrier, and every assignment of the universally quantified elements. A finite counterexample must supply an operation that satisfies every instance of E677 while failing E255 at some element.

The formal package provides small, reusable statements of the two laws, the left multiplication property, and the fixer constraint. Keeping these statements separate allows their precise hypotheses and conclusions to be checked individually. In particular, the second supporting result says what a fixer must be when one exists; the fixer-existence formulation records the additional mathematical content needed to ensure existence.

Difficulty

The left multiplication conclusion concerns maps with the left input fixed. The fixer-existence formulation instead asks about the image of the map y↦y⋄xy\mapsto y\diamond xy↦y⋄x, with its right input fixed. No assumption in the formal goal makes these two maps interchangeable. Bijectivity of every left multiplication map alone does not state that a fixer exists.

Likewise, checking a collection of finite operation tables does not quantify over arbitrary finite cardinalities. Such computation does not discharge the goal submitted here. Any proof must justify every use of finiteness and retain the displayed parenthesization of the laws.

Formalization scope

The representation uses an arbitrary universe-polymorphic type, an explicit binary operation, and a Fintype instance for finite targets. Passing the operation explicitly avoids importing a separate magma package or imposing algebraic typeclass laws. The predicates E677 and E255 themselves do not assume finiteness; each theorem states its own finite-carrier hypothesis.

Empty carriers are included. Both laws hold vacuously on them; the pointwise fixer statement is also vacuous because there is no element xxx. Consequently an empty carrier cannot refute the main goal. Nonempty carriers of every finite size are included without further assumptions. There is no associativity, commutativity, idempotence, identity element, or cancellation hypothesis hidden in the representation.

Selected references

  • Matthew Bolan et al., The Equational Theories Project: Advancing Collaborative Mathematical Research at Scale, arXiv:2512.07087v2 (December 16, 2025), paper.
  • The Equational Theories Project contributors, Equational Theories, online proof blueprint, Chapter 13, equations (1)–(2) and Lemmas 13.1–13.2, chapter, accessed September 7, 2026.
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Captain: wenxinzhang

Picard groups of semi-local or finite semiringsOpen Problem

Motivation

Invertible modules over a commutative semiring are Zariski-locally free, so local semirings have trivial Picard group. The source asks whether the ring-theoretic semilocal conclusion survives without subtraction: must every invertible module over a semiring with finitely many maximal ideals be free? If not, is the conclusion at least true for finite semirings?

This mission turns CUHK-Shenzhen AI Math Problem 19, Picard groups of semi-local or finite semirings, into an auditable Lean campaign. The objective is not merely to transcribe notation: it is to expose the mathematical model, the capstone, and a smaller attack surface as separate artifacts that other formalizers can inspect and reuse.

Setting

The main theorem asserts freeness for every invertible module over a commutative semiring with finite maximal spectrum. A separate milestone states the finite-semiring fallback. Both are positive formulations; a concrete counterexample to either resolves that target negatively and should motivate a corrected classification.

Significance

Solving this target would settle the precise finite or analytic core represented by the Lean statement and would create reusable infrastructure in semirings, Picard groups, invertible modules, finite semirings. Even a rigorous disproof is valuable: several entries in this collection deliberately ask whether an attractive extrapolation is true, and Lean forces a counterexample to satisfy every side condition. The mission therefore treats theorem proving and model criticism as equally legitimate research outcomes.

Difficulty

Ring proofs use subtraction-sensitive k-ideal properties and decompositions into local factors that can fail for semirings. Finite indecomposable semirings need not be local and may have positive Krull dimension. Invertible modules are projective with strong duality, but familiar rank and determinant arguments may not survive additive noncancellation.

Suggested attack route

Formalize the known local-freeness proof from the evaluation isomorphism and study patching over finitely many principal opens. Identify exactly where partitions of unity require k-ideals. For finite semirings, enumerate idempotent matrices representing projective modules, impose the invertibility constraints, and seek either a reduction to principal rank-one modules or a minimal counterexample. Product decompositions and faithful-action lemmas should be reusable.

Formalization scope

The Lean targets use Mathlib's commutative semiring, maximal spectrum, module, invertible-module, and free-module notions. 'Semilocal' is encoded only as finiteness of MaximalSpectrum; no unproved decomposition theorem is assumed. The finite fallback assumes the underlying semiring type is finite but does not assume the module itself finite separately. Cardinality-only variants from the source are not the capstone.

The natural-language source remains authoritative for motivation, while the Lean declaration is authoritative for what Prove2Me will verify. The mission description calls out restrictions where the current formal target is a finite-dimensional core, a fixed interpretation of informal terminology, or one sharpened subquestion from a broader classification problem. Those restrictions should not be silently generalized in a proof claim.

Milestones

Resolve the finite-semiring statement, computationally or structurally, while developing the local-to-semilocal patching lemmas needed by the main theorem.

The capstone is marked as the mission's main item and is never duplicated as a milestone. Definitions precede theorem statements in the proposal order. A milestone is considered complete only when its own exact statement is proved; proving a nearby theorem with stronger-looking prose but mismatched quantifiers, signs, supports, dimensions, or asymptotic constants does not complete it.

Timeline and literature status

The CUHK-Shenzhen AI Math Problems page added this problem on June 24, 2026. At the drafting date, August 31, 2026, the status and target corrections described above were checked against the source page and the cited primary material.

Acceptance criteria

A contribution may prove the displayed theorem or refute it by constructing data satisfying every Lean hypothesis while negating the conclusion. Informal changes of model do not count: any proposed correction must be submitted as a separately reviewed statement with an explanation of which source ambiguity or false implication it repairs. Definitions must remain computational or mathematically constrained; fields that simply assume the desired conclusion are not acceptable. Every proof must compile against the mission's pinned Mathlib revision, use no sorry, and expose a top-level theorem solution when submitted to Prove2Me.

The main theorem is intentionally separated from a smaller milestone. Contributors should preserve that dependency order, publish reusable lemmas rather than monolithic tactics, and report whether a lemma is analytic, algebraic, combinatorial, or infrastructure-only. Numerical evidence, external computer algebra, and exhaustive search are welcome for discovery, but a final certificate must be replayable by Lean. If an external result is invoked, its hypotheses must be represented in the formal statement or proved in the dependency tree.

Formal verification policy

The files were built locally with Lean 4.30.0 and Mathlib revision c5ea00351c28e24afc9f0f84379aa41082b1188f, the supported Prove2Me environment at drafting time. The mission definition file is ordered before all theorem files, and each theorem imports exactly that public definition module or Mathlib. Independent blind read-backs accompany the draft items so reviewers can compare what the Lean code literally says with this mathematical description. Human confirmation remains required before the public proposal can be submitted for moderation.

Selected references

  • Original problem
  • Facets of Module Theory over Semirings
  • MathOverflow discussion
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Captain: Henry Yuen

Fundamental Theorem of AlgebraTextbook

Show that every nonconstant complex polynomial has a complex root.

11 thms3 active usersReviewed
Analysis·Captain: Lucas

Smale's Mean Value ConjectureOpen Problem

Motivation

The mean value problem, also called Smale's mean value conjecture, was posed by Stephen Smale in 1981 in his study of the complexity of root-finding algorithms for polynomials (Smale 1981). For a real differentiable function the mean value theorem produces, between two points, a point where the derivative equals a difference quotient. For a complex polynomial no such point need exist on a segment, and Smale asked for a substitute in which the special point is a critical point of the polynomial (a zero of its derivative). Estimates of this kind control how far Newton-type iterations can move, which is where Smale's original interest came from. The problem appears in lists of unsolved problems in mathematics, including Smale's own list of problems for the next century.

Timeline

  • 1981 — Smale poses the problem and proves the inequality below with constant K=4K = 4K=4 (Smale 1981). The example P(z)=zd−dzP(z) = z^d - dzP(z)=zd−dz shows that the constant cannot be smaller than d−1d\frac{d-1}{d}dd−1​ in degree ddd, so no constant below 111 works in all degrees.
  • 1989 — Tischler proves the inequality with the optimal constant K=d−1dK = \frac{d-1}{d}K=dd−1​ when all roots of PPP are real, and when all roots of PPP have the same absolute value (Tischler 1989).
  • 2007 — Conte, Fujikawa and Lakic prove K≤4d−1d+1K \le 4\frac{d-1}{d+1}K≤4d+1d−1​ (Conte–Fujikawa–Lakic 2007). Crane proves K<4−2.263dK < 4 - \frac{2.263}{\sqrt d}K<4−d​2.263​ for d≥8d \ge 8d≥8 (Crane 2007).
  • 2009 — Dubinin and Sugawa prove the reverse (dual) inequality with constant 1d 4d\frac{1}{d\,4^d}d4d1​ (Dubinin–Sugawa 2009); optimizing this lower bound is the dual mean value problem (Ng–Zhang 2016).

No absolute constant K<4K < 4K<4 is known that works in every degree.

Setting

Let PPP be a polynomial with complex coefficients of degree d≥2d \ge 2d≥2, and write P′P'P′ for its derivative. A critical point of PPP is a complex number ccc with P′(c)=0P'(c) = 0P′(c)=0; since d≥2d \ge 2d≥2, P′P'P′ is a nonconstant polynomial of degree d−1d-1d−1, so PPP has at least one and at most d−1d-1d−1 distinct critical points. Fix a complex number zzz that is not a critical point, P′(z)≠0P'(z) \ne 0P′(z)=0. For every critical point ccc we then have c≠zc \ne zc=z, and the difference quotient

P(z)−P(c)z−c\frac{P(z) - P(c)}{z - c}z−cP(z)−P(c)​

is well defined. The question is how small this quotient can be made, relative to ∣P′(z)∣|P'(z)|∣P′(z)∣, by choosing the critical point ccc well.

Formalization targets

Goal: Smale's mean value conjecture (K=1K = 1K=1)

For every complex polynomial PPP of degree d≥2d \ge 2d≥2 and every z∈Cz \in \mathbb Cz∈C with P′(z)≠0P'(z) \ne 0P′(z)=0 there is a critical point ccc of PPP with

∣P(z)−P(c)z−c∣≤∣P′(z)∣.\left| \frac{P(z) - P(c)}{z - c} \right| \le |P'(z)|.​z−cP(z)−P(c)​​≤∣P′(z)∣.

Stronger: the optimal constant

The same with ∣P′(z)∣|P'(z)|∣P′(z)∣ replaced by d−1d ∣P′(z)∣\frac{d-1}{d}\,|P'(z)|dd−1​∣P′(z)∣; the example zd−dzz^d - dzzd−dz shows this constant cannot be lowered.

Known results (milestones)

  1. Smale's inequality with K=4K = 4K=4.
  2. The extremal example P(z)=zd−dzP(z) = z^d - dzP(z)=zd−dz at z=0z = 0z=0, where every critical point gives exactly d−1d∣P′(0)∣\frac{d-1}{d}|P'(0)|dd−1​∣P′(0)∣, and its consequence that no constant K<1K < 1K<1 works in all degrees.
  3. Tischler's optimal inequality for polynomials with only real roots, and for polynomials whose roots all have the same absolute value.
  4. The Conte–Fujikawa–Lakic bound K≤4d−1d+1K \le 4\frac{d-1}{d+1}K≤4d+1d−1​.
  5. Crane's bound K<4−2.263dK < 4 - \frac{2.263}{\sqrt d}K<4−d​2.263​ for d≥8d \ge 8d≥8.
  6. The Dubinin–Sugawa dual inequality ∣P(z)−P(c)z−c∣≥∣P′(z)∣d 4d\left|\frac{P(z)-P(c)}{z-c}\right| \ge \frac{|P'(z)|}{d\,4^d}​z−cP(z)−P(c)​​≥d4d∣P′(z)∣​ for some critical point ccc.

Significance

The result itself. A positive answer gives a sharp, degree-independent mean value inequality for complex polynomials: for every non-critical point, some critical value is reachable along a chord whose slope is at most the local derivative. Bounds of this type feed into the analysis of Newton's method and of path-following root finders, and into the study of how critical values of a polynomial are distributed relative to its values. The conjecture is part of a family of open extremal problems on the geometry of critical points, alongside Sendov's conjecture.

Formalizing it. The goal and the optimal-constant form are open. The milestones are published theorems, none of which is known to have a machine-checked proof. Formalizing Smale's K=4K = 4K=4 bound and Tischler's special cases would put the classical tools of the subject (critical points of polynomials, univalent function estimates, root location) on a formal footing that later attempts can reuse.

Difficulty

The obvious strategies control the quotient through one critical point at a time: for instance, bounding ∣P(z)−P(c)∣|P(z) - P(c)|∣P(z)−P(c)∣ by integrating P′P'P′ along the segment from ccc to zzz. Such estimates lose a constant factor that depends on how the critical points are spread out, and the known uniform arguments all pass through distortion theorems for univalent functions, whose constants lead to KKK close to 444. Reaching K=1K = 1K=1 requires using all critical points simultaneously, and no argument doing this in every degree is known. The equality case zd−dzz^d - dzzd−dz, in which every critical point is equally bad, shows that any successful argument must be sharp for polynomials with maximally symmetric critical configurations.

Formalization scope

Polynomials are elements of ℂ[X] (Mathlib's Polynomial ℂ); the degree is natDegree, the derivative is Polynomial.derivative, evaluation is Polynomial.eval, and the roots of PPP are the multiset P.roots (counted with multiplicity). A critical point is a c : ℂ with P.derivative.eval c = 0. The absolute value is the norm ‖·‖ on ℂ, and the constants d−1d\frac{d-1}{d}dd−1​ and 4d−1d+14\frac{d-1}{d+1}4d+1d−1​ are computed in ℝ from the cast of natDegree.

Every statement assumes P′(z)≠0P'(z) \ne 0P′(z)=0. This is the standard normalization and is essential in Lean: division by zero returns 000, so without it the choice c=zc = zc=z would make the inequality trivially true whenever zzz is itself a critical point. With the hypothesis, every critical point ccc differs from zzz and the quotient is a genuine difference quotient.

Crane's bound is stated as the existence, for each degree d≥8d \ge 8d≥8, of a constant strictly below 4−2.263d4 - \frac{2.263}{\sqrt d}4−d​2.263​ that works for all polynomials of degree exactly ddd; this is equivalent to the best constant in degree ddd being strictly below that value.

A complete development needs basic facts on critical points of complex polynomials (existence, the Gauss–Lucas theorem), and, for the classical bounds, results from the theory of univalent functions such as the Koebe quarter theorem and coefficient estimates. These are reusable well beyond this mission. Contributions of any milestone, of supporting lemmas, and of partial results in fixed small degree are welcome.

Selected references

  • S. Smale, The fundamental theorem of algebra and complexity theory, Bull. Amer. Math. Soc. (N.S.) 4 (1981), 1–36. https://doi.org/10.1090/S0273-0979-1981-14858-8
  • D. Tischler, Critical points and values of complex polynomials, J. Complexity 5 (1989), 438–456. https://doi.org/10.1016/0885-064X(89)90019-8
  • A. Conte, E. Fujikawa, N. Lakic, Smale's mean value conjecture and the coefficients of univalent functions, Proc. Amer. Math. Soc. 135 (2007), 3295–3300. https://doi.org/10.1090/S0002-9939-07-08861-2
  • E. Crane, A bound for Smale's mean value conjecture for complex polynomials, Bull. London Math. Soc. 39 (2007), 781–791. https://doi.org/10.1112/blms/bdm063
  • V. Dubinin, T. Sugawa, Dual mean value problem for complex polynomials, Proc. Japan Acad. Ser. A 85 (2009), 135–137. https://arxiv.org/abs/0906.4605
  • T.-W. Ng, Y. Zhang, Smale's mean value conjecture for finite Blaschke products, J. Anal. 24 (2016), 331–345. https://arxiv.org/abs/1609.00170
  • Wikipedia, Mean value problem. https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Mean_value_problem&oldid=1374678764
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Algebraic GeometryNumber Theory·Captain: vatsj

Milnor conjecture (Voevodsky 2003), formalizedResearch Paper

Motivation

For a field FFF, two invariants built from very different data turn out to carry the same mod-2 information. One is Milnor K-theory KnM(F)K^M_n(F)KnM​(F), defined by generators and relations from the multiplicative group F×F^\timesF× alone. The other is Galois cohomology Hn(F,Z/2)H^n(F,\mathbb{Z}/2)Hn(F,Z/2), the continuous cohomology of the absolute Galois group of FFF. In 1970 Milnor considered a natural map KnM(F)/2→Hn(F,Z/2)K^M_n(F)/2 \to H^n(F,\mathbb{Z}/2)KnM​(F)/2→Hn(F,Z/2) in all degrees, verified that it is an isomorphism for several classes of fields, and remarked that he knew of no field where it fails (Milnor 1970). The statement that it is always an isomorphism when char⁡F≠2\operatorname{char} F \neq 2charF=2 became known as the Milnor conjecture. Its companion conjecture on quadratic forms was later deduced from it (Orlov–Vishik–Voevodsky 2007). Together they identify the graded Witt ring of quadratic forms, Galois cohomology mod 2, and K∗M(F)/2K^M_*(F)/2K∗M​(F)/2.

Timeline. The attributions below follow the introduction of Voevodsky 2003.

  • 1970: Milnor considers the map KnM(F)/2→Hn(F,Z/2)K^M_n(F)/2 \to H^n(F,\mathbb{Z}/2)KnM​(F)/2→Hn(F,Z/2) in all degrees and gives classes of fields where it is an isomorphism (Milnor 1970).
  • Bass–Tate (published 1973): the Kummer classes satisfy the Steinberg relation, so the Kummer map extends to a ring homomorphism on K∗M(F)K^M_*(F)K∗M​(F) (Bass–Tate 1973).
  • Degrees 0 and 1: the map is an isomorphism, by Kummer theory and Hilbert's Theorem 90.
  • 1981: Merkurjev proves degree 2 with 222 as the coefficient prime.
  • 1982: Merkurjev and Suslin extend degree 2 to every prime ℓ\ellℓ (Merkurjev–Suslin 1982).
  • Degree 3, ℓ=2\ell = 2ℓ=2: proved by Merkurjev–Suslin and, independently, by Rost.
  • 2003: Voevodsky proves all degrees, in every characteristic ≠2\neq 2=2 (Voevodsky 2003, Cor. 7.5), using the motivic Steenrod operations constructed in Voevodsky 2003b. This work was cited for his 2002 Fields Medal.
  • 2011: the analogue for odd primes, the Bloch–Kato conjecture, is proved (Voevodsky 2011); a book-length account is Haesemeyer–Weibel 2019.

Setting

Let FFF be a field with 2≠02 \neq 02=0 in FFF.

Milnor K-theory. For n≥0n \ge 0n≥0, KnM(F)K^M_n(F)KnM​(F) is the quotient of the nnn-fold tensor power (F×)⊗n(F^\times)^{\otimes n}(F×)⊗n, taken over Z\mathbb{Z}Z with F×F^\timesF× written additively, by the subgroup generated by the pure tensors a1⊗⋯⊗ana_1\otimes\cdots\otimes a_na1​⊗⋯⊗an​ in which some adjacent pair satisfies ai+ai+1=1a_i + a_{i+1} = 1ai​+ai+1​=1. This is the degree-nnn part of T(F×)/IT(F^\times)/IT(F×)/I, where III is the two-sided ideal generated by a⊗(1−a)a\otimes(1-a)a⊗(1−a). The class of a1⊗⋯⊗ana_1\otimes\cdots\otimes a_na1​⊗⋯⊗an​ is the symbol {a1,…,an}\{a_1,\dots,a_n\}{a1​,…,an​}. In particular K0M(F)=ZK^M_0(F) = \mathbb{Z}K0M​(F)=Z and K1M(F)=F×K^M_1(F) = F^\timesK1M​(F)=F×. In Lean these are MilnorK F n and symbol a for a : Fin n → Fˣ.

Galois cohomology. Let FsepF^{\mathrm{sep}}Fsep be a separable closure and GF=Gal⁡(Fsep/F)G_F = \operatorname{Gal}(F^{\mathrm{sep}}/F)GF​=Gal(Fsep/F) the absolute Galois group, a profinite group under the Krull topology. Hn(F,Z/2)H^n(F,\mathbb{Z}/2)Hn(F,Z/2) is the continuous cohomology Hctsn(GF,Z/2)H^n_{\mathrm{cts}}(G_F,\mathbb{Z}/2)Hctsn​(GF​,Z/2) with trivial action, computed from GFG_FGF​-invariant continuous homogeneous cochains. In Lean this is H F n, Mathlib's continuousCohomology n of the trivial representation.

The Galois symbol. For a∈F×a \in F^\timesa∈F× fix a∈Fsep\sqrt a \in F^{\mathrm{sep}}a​∈Fsep. The Kummer character χa:GF→Z/2\chi_a : G_F \to \mathbb{Z}/2χa​:GF​→Z/2 is χa(σ)=0\chi_a(\sigma) = 0χa​(σ)=0 if σ(a)=a\sigma(\sqrt a) = \sqrt aσ(a​)=a​ and 111 otherwise. It is a continuous homomorphism representing the Kummer class δa∈H1\delta a \in H^1δa∈H1. The Galois symbol of (a1,…,an)(a_1,\dots,a_n)(a1​,…,an​) is the class of the homogeneous cocycle

(x0,…,xn) ⟼ ∏j=1n(χaj(xj)−χaj(xj−1)),(x_0,\dots,x_n)\ \longmapsto\ \prod_{j=1}^{n}\bigl(\chi_{a_j}(x_j)-\chi_{a_j}(x_{j-1})\bigr),(x0​,…,xn​) ⟼ j=1∏n​(χaj​​(xj​)−χaj​​(xj−1​)),

the homogeneous form of (σ1,…,σn)↦χa1(σ1)⋯χan(σn)(\sigma_1,\dots,\sigma_n) \mapsto \chi_{a_1}(\sigma_1)\cdots\chi_{a_n}(\sigma_n)(σ1​,…,σn​)↦χa1​​(σ1​)⋯χan​​(σn​), i.e. the cup product δa1∪⋯∪δan\delta a_1\cup\cdots\cup\delta a_nδa1​∪⋯∪δan​. In Lean this is galoisSymbol a.

Formalization targets

Goal: the Milnor conjecture (Voevodsky 2003, Corollary 7.5)

For every field FFF with char⁡F≠2\operatorname{char} F \neq 2charF=2 and every n≥0n \ge 0n≥0 there is a homomorphism

φ:KnM(F)→Hn(F,Z/2),φ{a1,…,an}=δa1∪⋯∪δan,\varphi : K^M_n(F) \to H^n(F,\mathbb{Z}/2),\qquad \varphi\{a_1,\dots,a_n\} = \delta a_1\cup\cdots\cup\delta a_n,φ:KnM​(F)→Hn(F,Z/2),φ{a1​,…,an​}=δa1​∪⋯∪δan​,

which is surjective and whose kernel is exactly 2 KnM(F)2\,K^M_n(F)2KnM​(F).

Since symbols generate KnM(F)K^M_n(F)KnM​(F), such a φ\varphiφ is unique; it is the norm residue homomorphism. The statement is therefore equivalent to KnM(F)/2≅Hn(F,Z/2)K^M_n(F)/2 \cong H^n(F,\mathbb{Z}/2)KnM​(F)/2≅Hn(F,Z/2) via the norm residue map. Its existence, i.e. the fact that the Steinberg relations map to zero, is part of the claim.

Significance

The result itself. The theorem gives a presentation of mod-2 Galois cohomology by generators and relations: every class is a sum of cup products of degree-one classes, and every relation among such products comes from Steinberg relations and multiples of 2. With Orlov–Vishik–Voevodsky 2007 it yields Milnor's conjecture on quadratic forms, which classifies quadratic forms up to Witt equivalence by their Galois-cohomological invariants.

Formalizing it. The theorem is proved but not formalized. At the time of writing, Mathlib has neither Milnor K-theory nor cup products in group or continuous cohomology, and has Hilbert 90 only for finite Galois extensions. This mission's definitions provide a sorry-free Galois symbol in Mathlib's continuous cohomology, which already makes the degree 0 and degree 1 cases (Kummer theory) meaningful targets. A complete development would formalize the IHES proof, including motivic cohomology with Z/2\mathbb{Z}/2Z/2 coefficients and the motivic Steenrod algebra. No part of that is currently available in Lean. Related existing work: on this platform, a graded cup product (groupCohomology.exists_isGradedCupProduct) and a Kummer theory and Hilbert 90 for level-constant cocycles have been formalized on top of Mathlib's discrete groupCohomology. The cup product is for discrete groups, and the Kummer and Hilbert 90 results use finite-level hypotheses in place of continuity, so none of them transfers directly to continuousCohomology.

Difficulty

Degrees 0 and 1 follow from Kummer theory and Hilbert 90. Degree 2 is Merkurjev's theorem, whose proof goes through the K-theory of Severi–Brauer varieties. No argument internal to Galois cohomology or K-theory of fields is known in higher degrees. The known proof reformulates the statement as a vanishing theorem for motivic cohomology of fields, the "Hilbert 90" property for weight nnn. It then argues by induction on nnn through geometry over FFF: splitting varieties of symbols (Pfister quadrics), their motives, and cohomology operations on motivic cohomology. Each of these is a substantial theory, none of it exists in Mathlib, and the induction passes through statements about arbitrary smooth varieties, not only fields.

Formalization scope

Scope. The target is the Milnor conjecture, i.e. the prime 222 with coefficients Z/2≅μ2\mathbb{Z}/2 \cong \mu_2Z/2≅μ2​. The Bloch–Kato conjecture for odd primes is out of scope.

Conventions.

  • The field is F : Type, universe 0. Mathlib's continuousCohomology requires the coefficient module to live in the universe of the group. For FFF in a higher universe this forces ULift (ZMod 2), for which the needed Module and ContinuousSMul instances are not available as global instances. Universe polymorphism is not part of this mission. It does not follow by plain transport, since a field in a higher universe need not be isomorphic to any field in Type; one route is a limit argument, using that both sides commute with directed unions of fields and that every field is the directed union of its countable subfields, each isomorphic to a field in Type.
  • The hypothesis char⁡F≠2\operatorname{char} F \neq 2charF=2 is [NeZero (2 : F)].
  • HnH^nHn is Mathlib's continuousCohomology, built from homogeneous cochains, with Z/2\mathbb{Z}/2Z/2 as a trivial representation of GFG_FGF​ with the Krull topology.
  • KnM(F)K^M_n(F)KnM​(F) is defined one degree at a time, not as a graded ring.
  • "Kernel =2KnM= 2K^M_n=2KnM​" means φ(x)=0  ⟺  ∃y, x=2y\varphi(x)=0 \iff \exists y,\ x = 2yφ(x)=0⟺∃y, x=2y.

Ruling out trivializations. The Galois symbol is not a free parameter. It is a fixed, sorry-free definition, and the existence of φ\varphiφ with the prescribed values on symbols is part of the goal. Neither can be chosen to make the statement vacuous.

Route. Reductions should follow Voevodsky 2003 together with Voevodsky 2003b. That route avoids resolution of singularities and works in every characteristic ≠2\neq 2=2. The following rely on resolution of singularities (or on characteristic-0 reductions) and should not be used as inputs:

  • Mazza–Voevodsky–Weibel (MVW 2006), results 16.24, 16.25 and 20.1, and the cdh-topology and compactly-supported-motive material;
  • the original Suslin–Voevodsky paper relating Bloch–Kato to Beilinson–Lichtenbaum (Suslin–Voevodsky 2000); use Haesemeyer–Weibel 2019, Chapter 2, instead;
  • Haesemeyer–Weibel Part II, and their reduction to characteristic 0 (Lemma 1.3);
  • Voevodsky's 1995–96 preprints on the Milnor conjecture.

Infrastructure needed and reusable. A complete development needs:

  • the ring structure on K∗M(F)K^M_*(F)K∗M​(F) (cf. Carlier's KMilnorWitt for Milnor–Witt K-theory);
  • cup products in continuous cohomology;
  • Hilbert 90 for profinite Galois groups;
  • Galois cohomology as étale cohomology of Spec⁡F\operatorname{Spec} FSpecF;
  • the Nisnevich topology;
  • presheaves with transfers, motivic complexes and motivic cohomology;
  • motivic Steenrod operations;
  • motives of Pfister quadrics.

Most of this is reusable well beyond the mission. The homogeneous-cochain construction in the definition files, which turns an invariant continuous cocycle Gn+1→MG^{n+1}\to MGn+1→M into a class in Mathlib's continuousCohomology, applies to any locally compact group with trivial coefficients. Contributions of any of these components, and of the degree 0 and 1 cases, are welcome.

Selected references

  • V. Voevodsky, Motivic cohomology with Z/2\mathbb{Z}/2Z/2-coefficients, Publ. Math. IHÉS 98 (2003), 59–104. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10240-003-0010-6
  • V. Voevodsky, Reduced power operations in motivic cohomology, Publ. Math. IHÉS 98 (2003), 1–57. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10240-003-0009-z
  • J. Milnor, Algebraic K-theory and quadratic forms, Invent. Math. 9 (1970), 318–344. https://doi.org/10.1007/BF01425486
  • H. Bass, J. Tate, The Milnor ring of a global field, in Algebraic K-theory II, Lecture Notes in Math. 342, Springer, 1973. https://doi.org/10.1007/BFb0073733
  • A. S. Merkurjev, A. A. Suslin, K-cohomology of Severi–Brauer varieties and the norm residue homomorphism, Math. USSR Izv. 21 (1983). https://doi.org/10.1070/IM1983v021n02ABEH001793
  • D. Orlov, A. Vishik, V. Voevodsky, An exact sequence for K∗M/2K^M_*/2K∗M​/2 with applications to quadratic forms, Ann. of Math. 165 (2007), 1–13. https://doi.org/10.4007/annals.2007.165.1
  • V. Voevodsky, On motivic cohomology with Z/l\mathbb{Z}/lZ/l-coefficients, Ann. of Math. 174 (2011), 401–438. https://doi.org/10.4007/annals.2011.174.1.11
  • C. Haesemeyer, C. Weibel, The Norm Residue Theorem in Motivic Cohomology, Annals of Math. Studies 200, Princeton, 2019. https://doi.org/10.1515/9780691189635
  • C. Mazza, V. Voevodsky, C. Weibel, Lecture Notes on Motivic Cohomology, Clay Math. Monographs 2, AMS, 2006. https://www.claymath.org/wp-content/uploads/2022/03/Motivic-Cohomology.pdf
  • A. Suslin, V. Voevodsky, Bloch–Kato conjecture and motivic cohomology with finite coefficients, in The Arithmetic and Geometry of Algebraic Cycles, NATO Sci. Ser. C 548, Kluwer, 2000. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-94-011-4098-0_5
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Number Theory·Captain: tomasz

Philippon: Multiplicity estimates in commutative algebraic groupsResearch Paper

Why multiplicity estimates matter

Formalization status, 29 September 2026: fourteen of the 26 individual paper targets are Proved, including Theorem 2.1, Propositions 3.3 and 4.7, and Lemma 5.1. Four of eight milestones are complete. The full-paper goal remains Open: the corollaries, remaining supporting claims, and both 1987 addenda remain part of the mission. The proved multiplicity theorem now supports the completed Senthil Kumar target.

An auxiliary polynomial in a transcendence proof is constructed to vanish to high order at many points. A multiplicity estimate limits how often that can happen without a geometric reason: a positive-dimensional algebraic subgroup can make the apparent vanishing conditions dependent. Such estimates are used to turn analytic approximations into algebraic-independence conclusions. The theory applies to products of commutative algebraic groups with both archimedean and nonarchimedean analytic directions.

The mission's objective is a faithful formalization of the complete 1986 paper, Patrice Philippon's Lemmes de zéros dans les groupes algébriques commutatifs, including every theorem, corollary, proposition, lemma, definition, and mathematical supporting claim. All results remain required whether or not a current application uses them. Necessary source corrections are explicit and their counterexamples remain part of the completion goal. The author's 1987 corrections are applied transparently, and the addendum's additional results are recorded separately (original, errata and addenda).

Groups, analytic directions, and geometric degree

Let K be the complex field or the completed algebraic closure of the field of ℓ-adic numbers for a prime ℓ, as in the source. Let G be a product of finitely many commutative algebraic groups G₁,…,Gᵣ over K, with each factor embedded as a quasi-projective variety in a projective space. Write n for the sum of their dimensions. A point of the product embedding has one block of homogeneous coordinates for each factor.

A nonzero multihomogeneous polynomial P has a degree Dᵢ in its i-th block of coordinates. Its zeros define a hypersurface of the ambient product of projective spaces. An analytic subgroup A is locally parametrized by an analytic homomorphism from a finite-dimensional additive K-space. The order of P along A at a group point g is the vanishing order of P after composing local projective coordinates with the translated parametrization. This definition must be independent of the choice of nonzero local coordinate representatives.

Let Σ be a finite set of group points containing the identity. Its n-fold sumset Σ(n) consists of all sums of n, not necessarily distinct, elements of Σ; Σ(0) is the singleton identity. For a connected algebraic subgroup H, the integer s is the analytic codimension of A∩H in A. The expression |(Σ+H)/H| counts distinct H-cosets meeting Σ. Codimension concerns the analytic tangent dimension; it does not assert that the point-set intersection is finite.

The source's Hilbert degree form ℋ(V;D₁,…,Dᵣ) is (dim V)! times the highest homogeneous part of the multigraded Hilbert–Samuel polynomial of the projective closure of V, evaluated at the degrees. It must be constructed from the coordinate ring, rather than supplied as an arbitrary numerical function. For one projective factor it is deg(V)D^(dim V). These definitions are fixed in §§2–3 of the original paper.

Formalization targets

The completion target is all results of the paper, with an aggregate goal that requires their individual formal statements. Theorem 2.1 is one milestone within that target. For each fixed family of embedded group factors, it chooses positive integers cᵢ, each depending only on its corresponding embedding. These constants precede the analytic subgroup, the finite sampling set, the polynomial degrees, the polynomial, and the contact parameter T. If P has order at least nT+1 along A at every point of Σ(n), there is a connected algebraic subgroup H with

(T+ss) ∣(Σ+H)/H∣ H(H;D1,…,Dr)≤H(G;c1D1,…,crDr).\binom{T+s}{s}\, |(\Sigma+H)/H|\, \mathcal H(H;D_1,\ldots,D_r) \leq \mathcal H(G;c_1D_1,\ldots,c_rD_r).(sT+s​)∣(Σ+H)/H∣H(H;D1​,…,Dr​)≤H(G;c1​D1​,…,cr​Dr​).

The same H is contained in a translate of the zero locus of P on G and is incompletely defined by equations of multidegrees at most (c₁D₁,…,cᵣDᵣ): it is an irreducible component of the common zero locus in G of equations with those degree bounds. Both geometric conclusions are part of the target. A formalization retaining only the displayed numerical inequality would omit part of the original result.

The 1986 paper has 13 numbered results. Section 2 contains Theorem 2.1 and Corollaries 2.2–2.3, including the one-dimensional analytic result and the result for disjoint group factors. Section 3 contains Lemmas 3.1–3.2, Proposition 3.3 and Lemma 3.4. Section 4 contains Propositions 4.3–4.4, Lemmas 4.5–4.6 and Proposition 4.7. Section 5 contains Lemma 5.1. Every clause of these statements belongs to the mission.

Definitions 3.5, 4.1 and 4.2, the unnumbered setup, the internal Facts A–E, the counterexample after Proposition 3.3, and the mathematical claims in remarks also require coverage. Source numbers and page references identify the correspondence between the prose and Lean declarations. The 1987 addendum adds vanishing on every sampled translate of the subgroup and a converse polynomial construction; both are tracked with their own hypotheses and constants.

Eight milestones and the completion goal

The completion goal is PhilipponMultiplicity.paper_results, a conjunction of 26 concrete propositions. This is a collection goal requiring the source statements and the additional mathematical claims in the coverage record. It is separate from the paper's original Theorem 2.1, which remains individually named and reusable.

The mission has eight milestones; four are currently Proved:

SourceMilestoneStatus
Theorem 2.1General multiplicity estimate, with every geometric and numerical conclusion.Proved
Corollary 2.2One-dimensional analytic-subgroup consequence.Open
Corollary 2.3Consequence for disjoint group factors and sampling grids.Open
Proposition 3.3Multigraded intersection bounds, including the multiplicity-sensitive bound.Proved
Proposition 4.7Binomial lower bound for contact multiplicity.Proved
Lemma 5.1Stabilizer construction and the geometric counting estimate.Proved
1987 addendum, p. 398Strengthened vanishing on every sampled subgroup translate.Open
1987 addendum, p. 398Converse polynomial construction.Open

The full statement package has 27 compiled theorem statements: all thirteen numbered results, both addenda, eleven supporting or correction targets, and the aggregate goal. Fourteen admission-free definition bundles supply their actual geometric and algebraic objects. All 41 original statement and definition items have independent blind readbacks. The eight milestones above retain their existing identities.

The supporting clauses include Hilbert-polynomial existence, primary components and Facts A–E; the geometric interpretation of mixed degree; the actual counterexample after Proposition 3.3; translation operators and their comparison with intrinsic ideals; contact invariance; translation-invariance and embedding remarks; the component/stabilizer construction; counting estimates; and the exact Masser–Wüstholz Theorem I consequence claimed on p.361. Proof-internal recursive ideals and tangent/exponential arguments belong to their corresponding theorem proofs.

Source corrections are visible for review. Lemma 3.1 and Corollary 2.2 require positive equation degrees; explicit zero-degree counterexamples are required goal clauses. Both addenda require positive ambient dimension; the goal also requires their dimension-zero counterexamples. The three-generator ideal printed on p.370 is nonradical, contrary to the printed word “prime”; its valid degree-four versus length-six counterexample is preserved, together with an explicit nilpotent witness. Connectedness is stated in the translation-invariance and Lange reembedding remarks. These are mathematical corrections documented during the source comparison, beyond the author's 1987 errata. They are not silent changes to the source.

Fourteen individual targets now have checked proofs with no Open theorem inputs. The remaining twelve individual targets and the collection goal are Open. The existing proved local-algebra references remain reusable ingredients.

What a completed formalization enables

The output is a reusable development of the paper's multigraded commutative algebra, translation and differential operators, geometric multiplicity theory, and zero estimates. All source results are required for completion. A downstream Weierstrass application can consume a specialization of Theorem 2.1; its needs do not determine the scope or completion of this mission (example application).

These are established mathematical results whose proofs are being formalized. The complete original Theorem 2.1 has an accepted proof. The selected Weierstrass application uses individually named Philippon results, with its application-specific model and subgroup bridges proved in the Senthil mission. The remaining general results stay required even though that application is complete.

The foundational difficulty

Vanishing conditions need not be independent: many can occur on the same component or on translates with a nontrivial stabilizer. Counting coefficients of P therefore does not bound their total multiplicity. The development needs geometric degree for actual components, multiplicities measured by lengths of localized quotient rings, and uniform control of translations in fixed projective embeddings.

Proposition 3.3 supplies multigraded intersection bounds, Proposition 4.7 controls contact multiplicity, and Lemma 5.1 connects the stabilizer to the geometric counting estimate. These three results and Theorem 2.1 now have checked proofs. The remaining corollaries, general geometric and analytic claims, examples and addenda are independent deliverables. Application-specific contact results do not discharge the remaining general statements.

Formalization scope

The declarations use the namespace PhilipponMultiplicity. Source statements retain their conclusions, constants, quantifier order, and complex or ℓ-adic scope, with the visible boundary and wording corrections listed above. Intermediate specializations are labelled as such and do not discharge a more general source result. Natural-number and zero-degree conventions have been compared with the original scans; the discovered failures and corrected hypotheses are recorded explicitly for human review. Corrections and inferred conventions must be documented rather than silently changing the source.

The required definitions include embedded commutative algebraic groups and their connected subgroups; products of projective spaces and multihomogeneous coordinate rings; analytic local homomorphisms and intrinsic contact order; multigraded Hilbert polynomials and their degree forms; local component lengths; and finite coset counts. No model may assume the desired multiplicity inequality, hide it as a structure field, or replace geometric degree by an unconstrained function.

All 27 theorem statements and 14 definition bundles compile in Lean 4.33.1 with Mathlib revision 0df444a360eaa60ab8c11dca51a86af692955474. Source comparisons and independent readbacks document the fixed statements and their explicit corrections. The goal remains the concrete 26-part full-paper collection. The completed proofs supply reusable Hilbert theory, primary-component multiplicities, polynomial differential operators, bounded translation atlases and the Section 5 construction. Contributions to the remaining targets, including results unused by Senthil, complete the original scope.

Selected references

  • P. Philippon, Lemmes de zéros dans les groupes algébriques commutatifs, Bulletin de la Société Mathématique de France 114 (1986), 355–383. DOI and original paper.
  • P. Philippon, Errata et addenda à « Lemmes de zéros dans les groupes algébriques commutatifs », Bulletin de la Société Mathématique de France 115 (1987), 397–398. DOI and addendum.
  • Senthil Kumar K, Algebraic independence of values of Weierstrass elliptic and zeta functions, Proceedings of the Edinburgh Mathematical Society (2026), including Robert Tubbs's appendix. DOI.
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Numerical Analysis·Captain: Lucas

Métodos Numéricos (Freitas) II: Zeros de Polinômios e o Algoritmo de HornerTextbook

Motivation

Polynomial equations are the special case of root finding where algebra says a great deal before analysis is needed: the number of roots is known, the roots of a real polynomial come in conjugate pairs, the rational candidates can be listed, and the whole complex plane can be narrowed down to an annulus that must contain every root. A numerical method that exploits this information starts closer to the answer and needs fewer evaluations; and each evaluation itself can be made cheaper by Horner's scheme, which also delivers the deflated quotient for free.

This mission is the second in a series formalizing the lecture notes Métodos Numéricos by Sergio Roberto de Freitas (UFMS, 2000). It covers Chapter 4, Zeros de Polinômios.

Setting

Throughout, a polynomial is written in the book's convention

P(z)=a0zn+a1zn−1+dots+an−1z+an,P(z) = a_0 z^n + a_1 z^{n-1} + \\dots + a_{n-1} z + a_n,P(z)=a0​zn+a1​zn−1+dots+an−1​z+an​,

so the index iii names the coefficient of zn−iz^{n-i}zn−i and a0a_0a0​ is the leading coefficient. The coefficients are real (integral, in the rational-root milestone) and zzz ranges over mathbbC\\mathbb{C}mathbbC unless stated otherwise.

Horner's algorithm computes P(c)P(c)P(c) by the recurrence b0=a0b_0 = a_0b0​=a0​, bi=ai+c,bi−1b_i = a_i + c\\,b_{i-1}bi​=ai​+c,bi−1​, so that P(c)=bnP(c) = b_nP(c)=bn​, using nnn multiplications and nnn additions. The same numbers b0,dots,bn−1b_0, \\dots, b_{n-1}b0​,dots,bn−1​ are the coefficients of the deflated polynomial QQQ with P(w)=(w−c),Q(w)+P(c)P(w) = (w - c)\\,Q(w) + P(c)P(w)=(w−c),Q(w)+P(c).

With A=max∣a1∣,dots,∣an∣A = \\max\\{|a_1|, \\dots, |a_n|\\}A=max∣a1​∣,dots,∣an​∣ and B=max∣a0∣,dots,∣an−1∣B = \\max\\{|a_0|, \\dots, |a_{n-1}|\\}B=max∣a0​∣,dots,∣an−1​∣, the chapter's two localization results confine the roots to the annulus

frac11+B/∣an∣;le;∣z∣;le;1+fracA∣a0∣.\\frac{1}{1 + B/|a_n|} \\;\\le\\; |z| \\;\\le\\; 1 + \\frac{A}{|a_0|}.frac11+B/∣an​∣;le;∣z∣;le;1+fracA∣a0​∣.

Target

The goal theorem is the outer bound (Proposição 4.2.1): every complex root of PPP satisfies ∣z∣le1+A/∣a0∣|z| \\le 1 + A/|a_0|∣z∣le1+A/∣a0​∣, where AAA is the largest absolute value among the non-leading coefficients.

The milestones are the companion results of the chapter: the inner bound (Proposição 4.2.2), the fact that non-real roots of a real polynomial occur in conjugate pairs (Proposição 4.1.1), the existence of a real root in odd degree (Proposição 4.1.2), the correctness of Horner's evaluation scheme, and the deflation identity that accompanies it.

Significance

The two localization bounds are what makes a search for complex roots finite: they give an explicit compact region to sweep, and they give scale information that prevents an iteration from wandering off. The conjugate-pair statement halves the work for real polynomials and is the reason odd-degree real polynomials always have a real root. The rational-root test turns exact factorization into a finite search. Horner's scheme is the standard way a polynomial is evaluated inside every root finder, and its deflation identity is what lets a method remove a root that has already been found and continue with a polynomial of lower degree.

Mathlib already contains general results close to some of these (a polynomial over a real closed field of odd degree has a root; rational-root divisibility), so those milestones are accessible; the two localization bounds and the Horner statements in the book's index convention are the substantive new work.

Difficulty

The localization proofs in the source are short but rest on a geometric-series estimate that is only valid for ∣z∣>1|z| > 1∣z∣>1; the boundary cases ∣z∣le1|z| \\le 1∣z∣le1 have to be treated separately in a formal proof, and the degenerate situations (n=1n = 1n=1, coefficients all zero except the leading one) must be checked rather than waved through. The inner bound is obtained from the outer one by the substitution w=1/zw = 1/zw=1/z, which requires knowing that zneq0z \\neq 0zneq0 is a root of PPP if and only if www is a root of the reversed polynomial — an argument that has to be made explicit. The Horner statements look computational but need a careful induction because the exponents are natural-number subtractions.

Formalization scope

Coefficients are given as a function a:mathbbNtomathbbRa : \\mathbb{N} \\to \\mathbb{R}a:mathbbNtomathbbR together with a degree nnn, and the polynomial is the finite sum sumi=0naizn−i\\sum_{i=0}^{n} a_i z^{n-i}sumi=0n​ai​zn−i; two versions are provided, one evaluated at a real point and one at a complex point, with the coefficients coerced into mathbbC\\mathbb{C}mathbbC. Only indices 0leilen0 \\le i \\le n0leilen are read, so the values of aaa beyond nnn are irrelevant to every statement. The exponent n−in - in−i is natural-number subtraction, which is harmless in this range. No hypothesis says that the family aaa describes a polynomial of exact degree nnn beyond the explicit assumptions a0neq0a_0 \\neq 0a0​neq0 or anneq0a_n \\neq 0an​neq0 where they appear. The constants AAA and BBB are given as hypotheses equating them to the maximum of the relevant finite family of absolute values, rather than being defined separately. The rational-root and odd-degree milestones are stated with Mathlib's polynomial type instead of the coefficient-family encoding, since their statements involve no index convention.

Selected references

  • S. R. Freitas, Métodos Numéricos, Departamento de Computação e Estatística, Universidade Federal de Mato Grosso do Sul, 2000. Chapter 4, Zeros de Polinômios, pp. 71–84. (Course notes supplied with this mission.)
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Mathematical Physics·Captain: Lucas

Brown-Gabrielse Invariance Theorem for an Imperfect Penning TrapResearch Paper

Motivation

The most precisely measured property of an elementary particle is the magnetic moment of the electron. The 2022 Northwestern measurement of Fan, Myers, Sukra and Gabrielse (arXiv:2209.13084) reports −μ/μB=g/2=1.001 159 652 180 59 (13)-\mu/\mu_B=g/2=1.001\,159\,652\,180\,59\,(13)−μ/μB​=g/2=1.00115965218059(13), and, combined with the Standard-Model prediction, α−1=137.035 999 166 (15)\alpha^{-1}=137.035\,999\,166\,(15)α−1=137.035999166(15). Those numbers are experimental results, not theorems, and nothing in this mission asserts them.

What is a theorem is the piece of mathematics the measurement rests on. A single electron is held in a Penning trap: a uniform magnetic field plus an electrostatic quadrupole potential. The quantity the experiment needs is the free-space cyclotron frequency νc=eB/(2πm)\nu_c=eB/(2\pi m)νc​=eB/(2πm), but what a trap lets you observe are its three normal-mode frequencies — the trap-modified cyclotron frequency νˉc\bar\nu_cνˉc​, the axial frequency νˉz\bar\nu_zνˉz​, and the magnetron frequency νˉm\bar\nu_mνˉm​. A real apparatus is never perfect: the magnetic field is tilted relative to the axis of the potential, and the potential is elliptically distorted. The invariance theorem of Brown and Gabrielse (Phys. Rev. A 25, 2423 (1982)), quoted as Eq. (4) of the measurement paper, says that a particular combination of the three observed frequencies is completely insensitive to both imperfections:

νc=νˉc2+νˉz2+νˉm2.\nu_c=\sqrt{\bar\nu_c^{2}+\bar\nu_z^{2}+\bar\nu_m^{2}}.νc​=νˉc2​+νˉz2​+νˉm2​​.

This is what makes a part-per-trillion measurement possible with an imperfect trap, and it is the object of this mission.

Setting

Work in R3\mathbb{R}^3R3. A particle of charge qqq and mass mmm sits in a uniform magnetic field B=B b\mathbf B=B\,bB=Bb with bbb a unit vector, and in the static field of a quadratic electrostatic potential. Dividing the Hessian of that potential by the mass gives a real 3×33\times33×3 matrix KKK, and the equation of motion of the particle is linear:

r′′(t)  =  −K r(t)  +  ωc (r′(t)×b),ωc=qBm.r''(t)\;=\;-K\,r(t)\;+\;\omega_c\,\big(r'(t)\times b\big),\qquad \omega_c=\frac{qB}{m}.r′′(t)=−Kr(t)+ωc​(r′(t)×b),ωc​=mqB​.

Two properties of KKK carry all the physics of the trap: KKK is symmetric, because it is a Hessian, and traceless, because the potential satisfies Laplace's equation in the vacuum region where the particle moves. Beyond that, KKK is arbitrary — an arbitrary KKK is exactly what "the axis of the potential is tilted relative to bbb, and the potential is elliptically distorted" means, so no separate tilt angle or ellipticity parameter appears anywhere.

Substituting the ansatz r(t)=u e−iωtr(t)=u\,e^{-i\omega t}r(t)=ue−iωt with u∈C3u\in\mathbb{C}^3u∈C3 turns the equation of motion into the linear system M(ω) u=0M(\omega)\,u=0M(ω)u=0, where

M(ω)  =  K−ω2I−i ω ωc C(b),C(b)=(0−b3b2b30−b1−b2b10)M(\omega)\;=\;K-\omega^{2}I-i\,\omega\,\omega_c\,C(b), \qquad C(b)=\begin{pmatrix}0&-b_3&b_2\\ b_3&0&-b_1\\ -b_2&b_1&0\end{pmatrix}M(ω)=K−ω2I−iωωc​C(b),C(b)=​0b3​−b2​​−b3​0b1​​b2​−b1​0​​

is the matrix of u↦b×uu\mapsto b\times uu↦b×u. A frequency ω\omegaω is a normal mode of the trap precisely when det⁡M(ω)=0\det M(\omega)=0detM(ω)=0. The three eigenfrequencies of the trap, written ωˉc,ωˉz,ωˉm\bar\omega_c,\bar\omega_z,\bar\omega_mωˉc​,ωˉz​,ωˉm​ (angular versions of νˉc,νˉz,νˉm\bar\nu_c,\bar\nu_z,\bar\nu_mνˉc​,νˉz​,νˉm​), are the non-negative solutions of that equation.

Target

The goal is the invariance theorem in the form: if the three numbers ωˉc,ωˉz,ωˉm\bar\omega_c,\bar\omega_z,\bar\omega_mωˉc​,ωˉz​,ωˉm​ are the eigenfrequencies of the trap, in the sense that

det⁡M(ω)=−(ω2−ωˉc2)(ω2−ωˉz2)(ω2−ωˉm2)for all ω∈R,\det M(\omega)=-\big(\omega^{2}-\bar\omega_c^{2}\big)\big(\omega^{2}-\bar\omega_z^{2}\big)\big(\omega^{2}-\bar\omega_m^{2}\big)\quad\text{for all }\omega\in\mathbb{R},detM(ω)=−(ω2−ωˉc2​)(ω2−ωˉz2​)(ω2−ωˉm2​)for all ω∈R,

then, for every symmetric traceless KKK and every unit vector bbb,

ωˉc2+ωˉz2+ωˉm2  =  ωc2.\bar\omega_c^{2}+\bar\omega_z^{2}+\bar\omega_m^{2}\;=\;\omega_c^{2}.ωˉc2​+ωˉz2​+ωˉm2​=ωc2​.

The milestones are the three steps of the argument, in increasing order of dependence:

  1. Mode equation. The exponential ansatz solves the equation of motion at every time if and only if its amplitude lies in the kernel of M(ω)M(\omega)M(ω). This is what makes M(ω)M(\omega)M(ω) the right object to take determinants of.
  2. Characteristic polynomial. For symmetric KKK, det⁡M(ω)\det M(\omega)detM(ω) is real and depends on ω\omegaω only through ω2\omega^2ω2: it equals −q(ω2)-q(\omega^2)−q(ω2) with q(λ)=det⁡(λI−K)−ωc2λ(λ⟨b,b⟩−⟨b,Kb⟩)q(\lambda)=\det(\lambda I-K)-\omega_c^{2}\lambda(\lambda\langle b,b\rangle-\langle b,Kb\rangle)q(λ)=det(λI−K)−ωc2​λ(λ⟨b,b⟩−⟨b,Kb⟩).
  3. Ideal trap. For K=diag⁡(−ωz2/2,−ωz2/2,ωz2)K=\operatorname{diag}(-\omega_z^2/2,-\omega_z^2/2,\omega_z^2)K=diag(−ωz2​/2,−ωz2​/2,ωz2​), b=(0,0,1)b=(0,0,1)b=(0,0,1) and ωc2≥2ωz2\omega_c^2\ge 2\omega_z^2ωc2​≥2ωz2​, the determinant factors explicitly, with eigenfrequencies (ωc±ωc2−2ωz2)/2(\omega_c\pm\sqrt{\omega_c^2-2\omega_z^2})/2(ωc​±ωc2​−2ωz2​​)/2 and ωz\omega_zωz​.

Significance

The result. The invariance theorem is why the electron magnetic moment can be measured to 0.130.130.13 parts per trillion in an apparatus whose magnetic field and electrode axis are not, and cannot be, exactly aligned. Without it, every misalignment and every elliptic distortion would enter the extracted νc\nu_cνc​ as a systematic error, and the frequency ratio νa/νc\nu_a/\nu_cνa​/νc​ that gives g/2g/2g/2 would have to be corrected with a model of the imperfections rather than being invariant under them.

Formalizing it. The theorem is a short, completely classical piece of linear algebra — the point of formalizing it is to have the frequency-metrology identity available as a machine-checked statement, together with a reusable model of linear motion in crossed electric and magnetic fields (the mode matrix, its characteristic cubic, and the correspondence between the exponential ansatz and the kernel of the mode matrix).

Status — please read before treating this as open. All four statements in this proposal have been proved by the drafting agent on a local Lean 4.28 / Mathlib installation; the proofs are deliberately not uploaded, so the platform statements are genuinely open here, but this is a formalization-transfer mission, not an open research problem. Milestone 3 is included precisely so that the goal's factorization hypothesis is known to be satisfiable and the goal is not vacuously true. The statements themselves were additionally compiled in this platform's default Lean environment before this proposal was assembled.

Difficulty

The obvious first idea — solve det⁡M(ω)=0\det M(\omega)=0detM(ω)=0 and add up the roots — is exactly the thing not to do: for a tilted, elliptically distorted trap the three eigenfrequencies have no usable closed form. The whole content of the theorem is that the sum of their squares is the coefficient of ω4\omega^4ω4 in the characteristic polynomial and therefore needs no root formula at all: it is Vieta plus the two structural facts tr⁡K=0\operatorname{tr}K=0trK=0 and ⟨b,b⟩=1\langle b,b\rangle=1⟨b,b⟩=1. The work in Lean is consequently not analysis but bookkeeping: computing a 3×33\times33×3 determinant with complex off-diagonal entries and extracting one coefficient of the resulting cubic in ω2\omega^2ω2. The one place real care is needed is the mode-equation milestone, where derivatives of complex-valued functions of a real variable must be handled honestly.

Formalization scope

Conventions fixed by the Lean statements, and not visible in the prose:

  1. Vectors are functions on a three-element index set and matrices are 3×33\times33×3; no abstract inner-product space is used.
  2. KKK is an arbitrary real matrix in the definitions; symmetry and tracelessness are hypotheses on the individual theorems, not part of the model.
  3. "Unit vector" is the algebraic condition ⟨b,b⟩=1\langle b,b\rangle=1⟨b,b⟩=1; no norm is used.
  4. The magnetic term is −i ω ωc C(b)-i\,\omega\,\omega_c\,C(b)−iωωc​C(b) with C(b)u=b×uC(b)u=b\times uC(b)u=b×u, i.e. the sign convention is fixed by the ansatz r(t)=u e−iωtr(t)=u\,e^{-i\omega t}r(t)=ue−iωt and the force ωc (r′×b)\omega_c\,(r'\times b)ωc​(r′×b).
  5. "The eigenfrequencies are ωˉc,ωˉz,ωˉm\bar\omega_c,\bar\omega_z,\bar\omega_mωˉc​,ωˉz​,ωˉm​" is formalized as the functional identity det⁡M(ω)=−(ω2−ωˉc2)(ω2−ωˉz2)(ω2−ωˉm2)\det M(\omega)=-(\omega^2-\bar\omega_c^2)(\omega^2-\bar\omega_z^2)(\omega^2-\bar\omega_m^2)detM(ω)=−(ω2−ωˉc2​)(ω2−ωˉz2​)(ω2−ωˉm2​) for all real ω\omegaω — that is, as a factorization with multiplicity, not as a set of solutions of det⁡M(ω)=0\det M(\omega)=0detM(ω)=0, which would not pin down multiplicities and would make the sum rule false in degenerate cases.
  6. No sign conditions are imposed on ωˉc,ωˉz,ωˉm\bar\omega_c,\bar\omega_z,\bar\omega_mωˉc​,ωˉz​,ωˉm​; the conclusion involves only their squares.
  7. Nothing in this mission formalizes any measured quantity: g/2g/2g/2, α\alphaα, and the frequencies of the actual apparatus appear only as motivation.

Only Mathlib is needed: matrices over R\mathbb{R}R and C\mathbb{C}C, determinants of 3×33\times33×3 matrices, the cross product, and derivatives of complex-valued functions of a real variable. The definitions are reusable for any linear-motion-in-a-magnetic-field problem.

Selected references

  • X. Fan, T. G. Myers, B. A. D. Sukra, G. Gabrielse, Measurement of the Electron Magnetic Moment, Phys. Rev. Lett. 130, 071801 (2023), arXiv:2209.13084 — Eq. (4) is the statement formalized here.
  • L. S. Brown, G. Gabrielse, Precision spectroscopy of a charged particle in an imperfect Penning trap, Phys. Rev. A 25, 2423 (1982), doi:10.1103/PhysRevA.25.2423 — the original invariance theorem.
  • L. S. Brown, G. Gabrielse, Geonium theory: Physics of a single electron or ion in a Penning trap, Rev. Mod. Phys. 58, 233 (1986), doi:10.1103/RevModPhys.58.233 — the trap eigenfrequencies and the hierarchy νˉc≫νˉz≫νˉm\bar\nu_c\gg\bar\nu_z\gg\bar\nu_mνˉc​≫νˉz​≫νˉm​.
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Mathematical Physics·Captain: Lucas

Koide Mass Relation: Exact Algebraic ContentResearch Paper

Motivation

In 1982 Yoshio Koide, searching for an empirical formula for the Cabibbo angle, noticed that the three charged-lepton masses satisfy

me+mμ+mτ  =  23(me+mμ+mτ)2.m_e + m_\mu + m_\tau \;=\; \frac{2}{3}\left(\sqrt{m_e}+\sqrt{m_\mu}+\sqrt{m_\tau}\right)^2 .me​+mμ​+mτ​=32​(me​​+mμ​​+mτ​​)2.

With the present-day values me=0.510998910±0.000000013m_e = 0.510998910 \pm 0.000000013me​=0.510998910±0.000000013 MeV, mμ=105.6583663±0.0000038m_\mu = 105.6583663 \pm 0.0000038mμ​=105.6583663±0.0000038 MeV and mτ=1776.99±0.29m_\tau = 1776.99 \pm 0.29mτ​=1776.99±0.29 MeV, the dimensionless ratio on the left over the bracket on the right equals 0.666667±0.0000160.666667 \pm 0.0000160.666667±0.000016 — the value 23\tfrac{2}{3}32​ to five digits. Whether this is numerology or a shadow of flavour physics beyond the Standard Model is an open physics question; what is not open, and what this mission is about, is the exact mathematical content of the relation: which triples of nonnegative reals satisfy it, what its polynomial (square-root-free) consequences are, and what its geometric reading is.

The material formalized here is Chapter 3 ("A Mass Relation") of F. Goffinet's 2008 doctoral thesis A bottom-up approach to fermion masses (Université catholique de Louvain), which collects the algebraic and geometric properties of the relation and proposes a mixing-matrix generalization. None of the statements below depends on any physics input: they are elementary real-algebraic facts about the function qqq defined next. The physics enters only in which numbers one plugs in.

Setting

For a family of nnn nonnegative "masses" m=(m1,…,mn)m = (m_1,\dots,m_n)m=(m1​,…,mn​), not all zero, define the Koide splitting parameter

q(m)  =  ∑imi(∑imi)2.q(m) \;=\; \frac{\sum_{i} m_i}{\bigl(\sum_i \sqrt{m_i}\bigr)^{2}} .q(m)=(∑i​mi​​)2∑i​mi​​.

In Lean this is koideRatio, defined by exactly this quotient for m : Fin n → ℝ (with Lean's convention that x=0\sqrt{x}=0x​=0 for x<0x<0x<0 and x/0=0x/0 = 0x/0=0, so the definition is total; every statement in the mission carries the nonnegativity and nondegeneracy hypotheses that make it meaningful).

Two further objects from the chapter are formalized alongside it.

  • The degeneracy angle. Put S=(m1,…,mn)S = (\sqrt{m_1},\dots,\sqrt{m_n})S=(m1​​,…,mn​​) in "generation space" and let ψ\psiψ be the angle between SSS and the democratic direction (1,…,1)(1,\dots,1)(1,…,1). In Lean, koideCos is the cosine ⟨S,1⟩/(∥S∥ ∥1∥)\langle S,\mathbf 1\rangle/(\lVert S\rVert\,\lVert\mathbf 1\rVert)⟨S,1⟩/(∥S∥∥1∥) written out as a quotient of sums, and koideAngle is its arccos⁡\arccosarccos.
  • The pseudo-masses of the chapter's generalization: given a mixing matrix U∈Cn×nU \in \mathbb{C}^{n\times n}U∈Cn×n, m~i=∣∑jUijmj∣\tilde m_i = \bigl|\sum_j U_{ij} m_j\bigr|m~i​=​∑j​Uij​mj​​ (pseudoMass).

Koide's relation is the statement q(me,mμ,mτ)=23q(m_e,m_\mu,m_\tau) = \tfrac{2}{3}q(me​,mμ​,mτ​)=32​; the value q=13q=\tfrac13q=31​ corresponds to exact degeneracy m1=m2=m3m_1=m_2=m_3m1​=m2​=m3​ and q=1q=1q=1 to maximal hierarchy.

Target

The goal theorem is the exact solution of the relation for the third mass. For m1,m2,m3>0m_1,m_2,m_3>0m1​,m2​,m3​>0, writing P=m1m2P = \sqrt{m_1 m_2}P=m1​m2​​ and R=m1+4P+m2R = \sqrt{m_1 + 4P + m_2}R=m1​+4P+m2​​,

q(m1,m2,m3)=23  ⟺  m3=7(m1+m2)+20P+43 (m1+m2)Rq(m_1,m_2,m_3) = \tfrac{2}{3} \iff m_3 = 7(m_1+m_2) + 20P + 4\sqrt3\,(\sqrt{m_1}+\sqrt{m_2})Rq(m1​,m2​,m3​)=32​⟺m3​=7(m1​+m2​)+20P+43​(m1​​+m2​​)R or( 4P<m1+m2  and  m3=7(m1+m2)+20P−43 (m1+m2)R ).\textrm{or}\quad \bigl(\, 4P < m_1+m_2 \ \textrm{ and }\ m_3 = 7(m_1+m_2) + 20P - 4\sqrt3\,(\sqrt{m_1}+\sqrt{m_2})R \,\bigr).or(4P<m1​+m2​  and  m3​=7(m1​+m2​)+20P−43​(m1​​+m2​​)R).

This is equation (3.25) of the source, made precise: the "−-−" branch of (3.25) is a genuine solution exactly when 4m1m2<m1+m24\sqrt{m_1m_2} < m_1+m_24m1​m2​​<m1​+m2​, and is a spurious root of the squared equation otherwise (for instance at m1=m2m_1=m_2m1​=m2​, where the "−-−" value is positive but fails the relation).

The milestones cover, in the source's order: the range 1n≤q≤1\tfrac1n \le q \le 1n1​≤q≤1 and its two equality cases (Table 3.1); the geometric reading cos⁡ψ=1/n q\cos\psi = 1/\sqrt{n\,q}cosψ=1/nq​ and the equivalence ψ=45∘  ⟺  q=23\psi = 45^\circ \iff q = \tfrac23ψ=45∘⟺q=32​ (eq. (3.5)–(3.6), Fig. 3.1); the square-root-free polynomial consequence (eq. (3.24)) and its matrix form (eq. (3.30)); the failure of the converse (eqs. (3.26)–(3.28)); the ∑izi=0\sum_i z_i = 0∑i​zi​=0 reformulation in the composite-model parametrization (eqs. (3.18)–(3.22)); the τ\tauτ-mass prediction (eq. (3.4)); and the fact that the pseudo-mass extension (3.31)–(3.32) reduces to the original relation at U=IdU = \mathrm{Id}U=Id.

Significance

The result itself. The goal theorem turns an empirical numerical coincidence into a complete description of its solution set: given any two masses, it says exactly which third masses are admissible, and it separates the two roots by an explicit inequality. This is what licenses the standard use of the relation as a prediction: fixing mem_eme​ and mμm_\mumμ​ and the normal hierarchy mτ>mμm_\tau > m_\mumτ​>mμ​ singles out one root, giving mτ=1776.968874m_\tau = 1776.968874mτ​=1776.968874 MeV, a number two orders of magnitude more precise than the direct measurement (milestone on eq. (3.4)). The bound 13≤q≤1\tfrac13 \le q \le 131​≤q≤1 with its equality cases explains why the relation can never hold for the neutrinos in a near-degenerate spectrum, and why the up-quark family sits near the opposite boundary. The square-root-free form (3.24)/(3.30) is what any Lagrangian-level model must reproduce, since square roots of masses do not appear in a mass matrix; the failure of its converse is the price paid for removing them, and the mission pins that failure down with an explicit witness.

Formalizing it. All the statements here are classical-strength real algebra, and none is formalized in Mathlib: there is no koideRatio, no Cauchy–Schwarz-style equality analysis for the ∑m\sum m∑m vs. (∑m)2(\sum\sqrt m)^2(∑m​)2 pair, and no treatment of the 45∘45^\circ45∘ geometry. The mission produces a small reusable development — the parameter, its sharp bounds with equality cases, and its angle formulation — that any later formalization of mass-relation phenomenology can import. It also records, machine-checked, where the source text is imprecise: the "±\pm±" discussion after (3.25) and the claim that (3.1) has exactly two solutions for the third mass.

Difficulty

Nothing here needs heavy machinery, and everything here needs care with square roots.

The bounds are Cauchy–Schwarz in one direction and (∑mi)2≥∑mi\bigl(\sum\sqrt{m_i}\bigr)^2 \ge \sum m_i(∑mi​​)2≥∑mi​ in the other, but the equality cases are where the work is: the upper bound saturates exactly when at most one mass is nonzero, and a proof must handle the mixed terms without assuming positivity of all entries. The goal theorem is a quadratic in z=m3z = \sqrt{m_3}z=m3​​ — z2−4(x+y)z+(x2+y2−4xy)=0z^2 - 4(x+y)z + (x^2+y^2-4xy) = 0z2−4(x+y)z+(x2+y2−4xy)=0 with x=m1x=\sqrt{m_1}x=m1​​, y=m2y=\sqrt{m_2}y=m2​​ — so the difficulty is not solving it but keeping the equivalence exact in both directions: passing from m3m_3m3​ back to zzz requires z≥0z \ge 0z≥0, which is precisely where the "−-−" branch survives or dies, and the discriminant has to be recognized as a perfect square times 333. The obvious route of squaring the relation twice, as the source does to reach (3.24), is not reversible; a solver who squares must come back and discharge the sign conditions, and the counterexample milestone shows that the lost information is real.

Formalization scope

Masses are real numbers, not physical quantities with units, and are indexed by Fin n (Fin 3 for the three-generation statements); the mixing matrix in the pseudo-mass definition is complex, as in the source. koideRatio, koideCos, koideAngle and pseudoMass are total functions and rely on Lean's junk conventions outside their intended domain, so each statement carries its own hypotheses — nonnegativity of every entry and the existence of a strictly positive entry — rather than delegating them to the definitions. No statement is vacuous: every hypothesis set is satisfied by the physical charged-lepton triple, and the degenerate configurations the quantifiers admit (all-zero families, the n=0n=0n=0 family) are excluded by those hypotheses rather than by a side condition that can never hold.

The angle statements use Real.arccos and are stated for the cosine written out as an explicit quotient of sums, not through an inner-product-space instance; a solver is free to route the proof through EuclideanSpace if that is convenient. The matrix milestone uses Matrix.IsHermitian.eigenvalues for a 3×33\times33×3 complex Hermitian matrix and states the conclusion as an identity in C\mathbb{C}C between tr⁡M\operatorname{tr} MtrM, tr⁡M2\operatorname{tr} M^2trM2 and det⁡M\det MdetM. Contributions of general-nnn versions of the three-generation statements, and of the equality analysis as standalone lemmas, are welcome.

Selected references

  • F. Goffinet, A bottom-up approach to fermion masses, PhD thesis, Université catholique de Louvain, December 2008. Chapter 3, pp. 59–86. http://hdl.handle.net/2078.1/20873
  • Y. Koide, A fermion–boson composite model of quarks and leptons, Phys. Lett. B 120 (1983) 161–165. https://doi.org/10.1016/0370-2693(83)90644-5
  • Y. Koide, Challenge to the mystery of the charged lepton mass formula, https://arxiv.org/abs/hep-ph/0506247
  • R. Foot, A note on Koide's lepton mass relation, https://arxiv.org/abs/hep-ph/9402242 (the 45∘45^\circ45∘ geometric reading).
  • J.-M. Gérard, F. Goffinet, M. Herquet, A new look at an old mass relation, Phys. Lett. B 633 (2006) 563–566. https://arxiv.org/abs/hep-ph/0510289 (the pseudo-mass extension).
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Arithmetic GeometryNumber Theory·Captain: Lucas

Lectures on Analytic Geometry I: $\mathbb{Z}((T))_{>r}$ is a principal ideal domainTextbook

Motivation

Rings of arithmetic power series — power series with integer coefficients that converge on a disc of radius close to 111 — sit between algebra and analysis: an element has both archimedean zeros, in the complex disc, and non-archimedean ones, at ppp-adic points. Harbater (Convergent arithmetic power series, Amer. J. Math. 106 (1984), 801–846, DOI 10.2307/2374325) showed that a well-chosen ring of such series is a principal ideal domain and identified its prime ideals; the same ring is the arithmetic model of the closed disc of radius rrr in the adic space Spa(Z[[T]])\mathrm{Spa}(\mathbb{Z}[[T]])Spa(Z[[T]]).

The result was put to work in Clausen–Scholze's Lectures on Analytic Geometry (Lecture VII), where Z((T))>r\mathbb{Z}((T))_{>r}Z((T))>r​ supplies a two-term presentation of the real numbers as a condensed abelian group: for 0<r′<r<10 < r' < r < 10<r′<r<1 there is an exact sequence 0→Z((T))r→fr′Z((T))r→R→00 \to \mathbb{Z}((T))_r \xrightarrow{f_{r'}} \mathbb{Z}((T))_r \to \mathbb{R} \to 00→Z((T))r​fr′​​Z((T))r​→R→0, whose existence rests on the principality of the kernel of evaluation at r′r'r′. The quantitative refinement of that sequence (Propositions 7.2 and 7.3 of the notes) is what produces the ℓp\ell^pℓp-norms in the analytic ring structure on R\mathbb{R}R.

Setting

Fix a real number rrr with 0<r<10 < r < 10<r<1. An integral Laurent series is a family of integers (an)n∈Z(a_n)_{n \in \mathbb{Z}}(an​)n∈Z​ whose support is bounded below, written f=∑n≫−∞anTnf = \sum_{n \gg -\infty} a_n T^nf=∑n≫−∞​an​Tn; these form the ring Z((T))\mathbb{Z}((T))Z((T)) under coefficientwise addition and the Cauchy product.

Define

Z((T))>r  =  { ∑n≫−∞anTn  ∣  ∃ s>r, ∣an∣ s n→n→∞0 }  ⊆  Z((T)).\mathbb{Z}((T))_{>r} \;=\; \Big\{\, \sum_{n \gg -\infty} a_n T^n \;\Big|\; \exists\, s > r,\ |a_n|\, s^{\,n} \xrightarrow[n \to \infty]{} 0 \,\Big\} \;\subseteq\; \mathbb{Z}((T)).Z((T))>r​={n≫−∞∑​an​Tn​∃s>r, ∣an​∣snn→∞​0}⊆Z((T)).

Concretely, fff lies in Z((T))>r\mathbb{Z}((T))_{>r}Z((T))>r​ when the associated Laurent expansion converges on some punctured disc {0<∣y∣<s}\{0 < |y| < s\}{0<∣y∣<s} with s>rs > rs>r strictly larger than rrr — an overconvergence condition. For xxx a real or complex number, f(x)=∑nanx nf(x) = \sum_{n} a_n x^{\,n}f(x)=∑n​an​xn denotes the evaluation, whenever the family is summable.

Two features distinguish this ring from the classical Tate algebra. The coefficients are integers, not elements of a complete field, so reduction modulo a prime ppp is available and produces Fp((T))\mathbb{F}_p((T))Fp​((T)). And the condition is an overconvergence condition: the radius sss is required to be strictly larger than rrr, which is what makes the ring behave like the ring of functions on a closed disc rather than an open one.

Formalization targets

Goal

0<r<1  ⟹  Z((T))>r is a principal ideal domain.0 < r < 1 \;\Longrightarrow\; \mathbb{Z}((T))_{>r} \text{ is a principal ideal domain.}0<r<1⟹Z((T))>r​ is a principal ideal domain.

The ring is a subring of the domain Z((T))\mathbb{Z}((T))Z((T)), so integrality is automatic and the content of the goal is that every ideal is generated by one element.

The prime ideals (context, not a formalization target here)

Theorem 7.1 of the source also classifies the nonzero primes: kernels of evaluation at a complex xxx with 0<∣x∣≤r0 < |x| \le r0<∣x∣≤r (up to conjugation); the ideals (p)(p)(p) for ppp prime; and kernels of evaluation at a topologically nilpotent unit xxx of a finite extension of Qp\mathbb{Q}_pQp​ (up to Galois conjugacy). The milestones below formalize the parts of the classification that the principality proof actually consumes — surjectivity of the three evaluation maps, and principality of the archimedean kernels — and leave the full classification statement for a later mission in this series.

Significance

The result itself. Principality gives, for each point of the closed disc, a single equation cutting it out; that is exactly what the presentation 0→Z((T))r→Z((T))r→R→00 \to \mathbb{Z}((T))_r \to \mathbb{Z}((T))_r \to \mathbb{R} \to 00→Z((T))r​→Z((T))r​→R→0 needs. Downstream, that presentation is the input to the computation of measures on R\mathbb{R}R in the analytic-ring formalism, and the reason ℓp\ell^pℓp-spaces with p<1p < 1p<1 appear there at all. Without it, one has no finite free resolution of R\mathbb{R}R by rings of arithmetic functions, and the structure results of Lectures VI–VII of the source lose their computational base.

Formalizing it. The mathematics is classical and fully proved; nothing here is open. What is missing is a machine-checked version. Mathlib has Hahn series, Laurent series, complex analysis on discs, and the ppp-adic numbers, but nothing about arithmetic overconvergent series: not the ring itself, not the greedy expansions that make real evaluation surjective, not the invertibility criterion. Each milestone below is a self-contained piece of that missing theory, reusable outside this mission.

Difficulty

The obvious approach — Weierstrass preparation, as for the Tate algebra K⟨T⟩K\langle T\rangleK⟨T⟩ over a complete field KKK — does not apply: the coefficient ring Z\mathbb{Z}Z is not a field, and no single valuation controls it. An element of Z((T))>r\mathbb{Z}((T))_{>r}Z((T))>r​ must be divided simultaneously by archimedean generators (complex zeros in the disc) and ppp-adic ones, with the quotient required to stay integral and still overconvergent. Two steps carry the weight and fail for naive reasons:

  • Producing an integral generator for the kernel of evaluation at a real or complex xxx: one first needs a real polynomial g∈1+TnR[T]g \in 1 + T^n\mathbb{R}[T]g∈1+TnR[T] with xxx as its only zero in {0<∣y∣≤r}\{0 < |y| \le r\}{0<∣y∣≤r}, then a correction series hhh with small coefficients such that ghghgh has integer coefficients. Neither factor alone is integral.
  • Showing that an element of 1+TZ[[T]]1 + T\mathbb{Z}[[T]]1+TZ[[T]] with no zero in the closed disc of radius rrr is invertible in the ring: the inverse is integral for formal reasons, but its overconvergence is an analytic statement about the absence of zeros.

Finiteness — that a nonzero element lies in only finitely many of the listed maximal ideals — mixes the identity theorem for holomorphic functions with a ppp-adic Weierstrass argument, which is why the reduction and ppp-adic surjectivity milestones are prerequisites rather than side remarks.

Formalization scope

The ambient ring is Mathlib's LaurentSeries ℤ (Hahn series over Z\mathbb{Z}Z indexed by Z\mathbb{Z}Z), and Z((T))>r\mathbb{Z}((T))_{>r}Z((T))>r​ is given as a set of such series, cut out by the decay condition ∣an∣s n→0|a_n| s^{\,n} \to 0∣an​∣sn→0 as n→+∞n \to +\inftyn→+∞ for some s>rs > rs>r. Evaluations are unordered sums over Z\mathbb{Z}Z; where a statement asserts a value of an evaluation, summability is asserted alongside it, so the junk value of a divergent sum cannot be exploited.

Because the carrier is a set, the goal theorem is stated for an arbitrary subring of Z((T))\mathbb{Z}((T))Z((T)) whose underlying set is Z((T))>r\mathbb{Z}((T))_{>r}Z((T))>r​. That form would be vacuous if no such subring existed, which is precisely why the first milestone asserts its existence; the two together carry the intended content, and the mission is not considered advanced by the goal alone.

Milestone 6 formalizes only the case K=QpK = \mathbb{Q}_pK=Qp​ of part (3) of the source theorem (topologically nilpotent units of proper finite extensions of Qp\mathbb{Q}_pQp​ are out of scope, since Mathlib lacks the ambient theory of such extensions). Milestone 3 drops the "with multiplicity one" clause of the source and asserts only that the zero set in the punctured closed disc is {x}\{x\}{x}.

A complete development will need: closure of the decay condition under the Cauchy product; summability of evaluations on the closed disc; the identity theorem for the induced holomorphic functions; greedy xxx-adic expansions of real numbers with bounded integer digits; and ppp-adic expansions in the lattice generated by a topologically nilpotent unit. Contributions of any of these, as standalone lemmas, are welcome.

Selected references

  • D. Harbater, Convergent arithmetic power series, American Journal of Mathematics 106 (1984), 801–846. DOI 10.2307/2374325
  • P. Scholze (joint with D. Clausen), Lectures on Analytic Geometry, Bonn, 2019/20; Lecture VII, Theorem 7.1. PDF
  • P. Scholze (joint with D. Clausen), Lectures on Condensed Mathematics, Bonn, 2019. PDF
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Number Theory·Captain: Lucas

Schanuel's ConjectureOpen Problem

Motivation

Almost every classical transcendence theorem is a statement about the interaction between the additive structure of C\mathbb{C}C and the exponential function. Hermite proved in 1873 that eee is transcendental, Lindemann in 1882 that eαe^{\alpha}eα is transcendental for every nonzero algebraic α\alphaα — hence that π\piπ is transcendental and the circle cannot be squared — and Weierstrass in 1885 extended this to the linear independence of eα1,…,eαne^{\alpha_1},\dots,e^{\alpha_n}eα1​,…,eαn​ over Q‾\overline{\mathbb{Q}}Q​ for distinct algebraic αi\alpha_iαi​. Gelfond and Schneider settled Hilbert's seventh problem in 1934, and Baker's 1966 theorem on linear forms in logarithms made the subject effective.

Schanuel's conjecture, formulated by Stephen Schanuel in the 1960s and first published by Lang (Introduction to Transcendental Numbers, Addison–Wesley, 1966, Chapter III), is a single statement that contains all of these as special cases, together with a large number of statements that remain open — for instance that eee and π\piπ are algebraically independent, or that e+πe + \pie+π is irrational. No case of it is known beyond those already covered by the Lindemann–Weierstrass theorem or by Baker's theorem.

Timeline, with the hypotheses each result actually assumes:

  • 1882, Lindemann: eαe^{\alpha}eα is transcendental for algebraic α≠0\alpha \neq 0α=0.
  • 1885, Weierstrass: for pairwise distinct algebraic α1,…,αn\alpha_1,\dots,\alpha_nα1​,…,αn​, the values eα1,…,eαne^{\alpha_1},\dots,e^{\alpha_n}eα1​,…,eαn​ are linearly independent over Q‾\overline{\mathbb{Q}}Q​.
  • 1934, Gelfond and Schneider, independently: if λ≠0\lambda \neq 0λ=0 is a logarithm of an algebraic number and β\betaβ is algebraic and irrational, then eβλe^{\beta\lambda}eβλ is transcendental.
  • 1960s, Siegel, Lang and Ramachandra: the six exponentials theorem, unconditional; the analogous four exponentials statement is still open.
  • 1966, Baker: if logarithms λ1,…,λn\lambda_1,\dots,\lambda_nλ1​,…,λn​ of algebraic numbers are linearly independent over Q\mathbb{Q}Q, then 1,λ1,…,λn1,\lambda_1,\dots,\lambda_n1,λ1​,…,λn​ are linearly independent over Q‾\overline{\mathbb{Q}}Q​.
  • 1971, Ax: the function-field analogue of Schanuel's conjecture, for formal power series and, more generally, differential fields of characteristic zero.

Setting

Write exp⁡\expexp for the complex exponential function. A tuple z1,…,znz_1,\dots,z_nz1​,…,zn​ of complex numbers is linearly independent over Q\mathbb{Q}Q when the only rationals q1,…,qnq_1,\dots,q_nq1​,…,qn​ with ∑iqizi=0\sum_i q_i z_i = 0∑i​qi​zi​=0 are q1=⋯=qn=0q_1 = \dots = q_n = 0q1​=⋯=qn​=0; here C\mathbb{C}C is viewed as a vector space over Q\mathbb{Q}Q.

For a subset S⊆CS \subseteq \mathbb{C}S⊆C, let Q(S)\mathbb{Q}(S)Q(S) denote the subfield of C\mathbb{C}C generated by SSS over Q\mathbb{Q}Q. The transcendence degree trdeg⁡QQ(S)\operatorname{trdeg}_{\mathbb{Q}} \mathbb{Q}(S)trdegQ​Q(S) is the cardinality of a transcendence basis of Q(S)\mathbb{Q}(S)Q(S) over Q\mathbb{Q}Q: the largest number of elements of Q(S)\mathbb{Q}(S)Q(S) that are algebraically independent over Q\mathbb{Q}Q. A number xxx is transcendental over Q\mathbb{Q}Q when no nonzero polynomial with rational coefficients vanishes at xxx, and numbers x1,…,xmx_1,\dots,x_mx1​,…,xm​ are algebraically independent over Q\mathbb{Q}Q when no nonzero polynomial in mmm variables with rational coefficients vanishes at (x1,…,xm)(x_1,\dots,x_m)(x1​,…,xm​).

Formalization targets

Goal

z1,…,zn linearly independent over Q  ⟹  trdeg⁡QQ(z1,…,zn, ez1,…,ezn)  ≥  n.z_1,\dots,z_n \text{ linearly independent over } \mathbb{Q} \;\Longrightarrow\; \operatorname{trdeg}_{\mathbb{Q}} \mathbb{Q}\bigl(z_1,\dots,z_n,\,e^{z_1},\dots,e^{z_n}\bigr) \;\ge\; n .z1​,…,zn​ linearly independent over Q⟹trdegQ​Q(z1​,…,zn​,ez1​,…,ezn​)≥n.

The goal fixes no numerical constant and no special shape for the ziz_izi​: it asserts only the inequality, for every nnn and every Q\mathbb{Q}Q-linearly independent tuple. The case n=0n = 0n=0 is vacuous and the conclusion is a bound on a cardinal, so nothing is hidden in a degenerate convention.

Milestones

The milestone list consists of the landmark unconditional theorems that Schanuel's conjecture generalizes, the known function-field analogue, and one conditional corollary that records what the conjecture buys:

  • Hermite–Lindemann (1882): α\alphaα algebraic and nonzero ⇒\Rightarrow⇒ eαe^{\alpha}eα transcendental.
  • Lindemann–Weierstrass (1885): ∑iβieαi≠0\sum_i \beta_i e^{\alpha_i} \neq 0∑i​βi​eαi​=0 for distinct algebraic αi\alpha_iαi​ and algebraic βi\beta_iβi​ not all zero.
  • Gelfond–Schneider (1934): λ≠0\lambda \neq 0λ=0 a logarithm of an algebraic number, β\betaβ algebraic irrational ⇒\Rightarrow⇒ eβλe^{\beta\lambda}eβλ transcendental.
  • Six exponentials theorem: x1,x2x_1,x_2x1​,x2​ and y1,y2,y3y_1,y_2,y_3y1​,y2​,y3​ each Q\mathbb{Q}Q-linearly independent ⇒\Rightarrow⇒ at least one of the six numbers exiyje^{x_i y_j}exi​yj​ is transcendental.
  • Baker (1966): Q\mathbb{Q}Q-linearly independent logarithms of algebraic numbers, together with 111, are linearly independent over Q‾\overline{\mathbb{Q}}Q​.
  • Ax (1971), power series form: trdeg⁡CC(f1,…,fn,g1,…,gn)≥n+1\operatorname{trdeg}_{\mathbb{C}} \mathbb{C}(f_1,\dots,f_n,g_1,\dots,g_n) \ge n+1trdegC​C(f1​,…,fn​,g1​,…,gn​)≥n+1 when gi′=fi′gig_i' = f_i' g_igi′​=fi′​gi​, the gig_igi​ are units, and no nontrivial Q\mathbb{Q}Q-linear combination of the fif_ifi​ is constant.
  • Conditional corollary: Schanuel's conjecture implies that eee and π\piπ are algebraically independent over Q\mathbb{Q}Q.

Significance

Schanuel's conjecture decides, in one stroke, a long list of questions that are individually open: the algebraic independence of eee and π\piπ, the irrationality of e+πe+\pie+π and of eπe\pieπ, the transcendence of eee^{e}ee and ππ\pi^{\pi}ππ, the four exponentials conjecture, and — combined with work of Macintyre and Wilkie — the decidability of the first-order theory of the real exponential field. Its restriction to algebraic ziz_izi​ is exactly the Lindemann–Weierstrass theorem, and its restriction to ziz_izi​ whose exponentials are algebraic is exactly Baker's theorem, so the conjecture is a common generalization of the two main unconditional pillars of the subject.

On the formalization side, the state of the art in Lean's mathematical library is modest relative to this history: the analytic core of the Lindemann–Weierstrass argument is present, but the Hermite–Lindemann theorem, the Lindemann–Weierstrass theorem, the transcendence of π\piπ, the Gelfond–Schneider theorem, the six exponentials theorem and Baker's theorem are not available as usable statements in the pinned environment. Each milestone here is therefore a genuine formalization project with a known mathematical proof, and none of them is a restatement of an existing library result. The goal theorem itself is open mathematically; the realistic contributions to it are reductions — implications between the goal and other statements — and closing the milestones that the conjecture generalizes.

Difficulty

The obvious approach to any single case — build an auxiliary function with many zeros, bound its derivatives, and derive a contradiction from an integrality argument — is the method behind every result on the milestone list, and it is exactly what fails for the conjecture in general. Those proofs need the exponentials, or the arguments, to be algebraic somewhere, so that heights and denominators can be controlled; for a general Q\mathbb{Q}Q-linearly independent tuple there is no arithmetic input at all, and no known construction produces the required auxiliary function. Ax's theorem shows that the differential-algebraic shadow of the statement is true, but its proof uses the derivation on the function field and has no arithmetic counterpart. A solver should not expect the conjecture itself to fall to a variation of the classical method.

Formalization scope

All statements are over C\mathbb{C}C, with the complex exponential. Tuples are indexed by Fin n, ℚ-linear independence is Mathlib's LinearIndependent ℚ, transcendence degree is Mathlib's Algebra.trdeg, the generated field is IntermediateField.adjoin, and the inequality is between cardinals, so the goal reads (n : Cardinal) ≤ Algebra.trdeg ℚ (adjoin ℚ (Set.range z ∪ Set.range (Complex.exp ∘ z))). Algebraicity is IsAlgebraic ℚ, transcendence is Transcendental ℚ, and algebraic independence is AlgebraicIndependent ℚ.

There is no trivializing formalization here: the hypothesis LinearIndependent ℚ z is satisfiable for every nnn, so the goal is not vacuous, and the conclusion is an inequality of cardinals rather than a statement about a definition introduced for this mission.

The Ax milestone is stated for formal power series in one variable over C\mathbb{C}C: the exponential relation is expressed as the differential equation gi′=fi′gig_i' = f_i' g_igi′​=fi′​gi​ with PowerSeries.derivative, and the conclusion bounds Algebra.trdeg ℂ of the ℂ-subalgebra generated by the fif_ifi​ and the gig_igi​. The conditional corollary takes the full statement of Schanuel's conjecture as an explicit hypothesis, so it is provable unconditionally as stated.

Infrastructure that a complete development needs, and that is reusable well beyond this mission: Siegel's lemma and height machinery for algebraic numbers, the standard auxiliary-function construction with derivative bounds, and interface lemmas relating Algebra.trdeg, AlgebraicIndependent and Transcendental. Reductions between the milestones — for example deriving Hermite–Lindemann from Lindemann–Weierstrass, or the six exponentials theorem from a general Baker-type statement — are welcome as sketches.

Selected references

  • S. Lang, Introduction to Transcendental Numbers, Addison–Wesley, 1966. (Schanuel's conjecture is stated in Chapter III.)
  • A. Baker, Linear forms in the logarithms of algebraic numbers I, Mathematika 13 (1966), 204–216. https://doi.org/10.1112/S0025579300003971
  • J. Ax, On Schanuel's conjectures, Annals of Mathematics 93 (1971), 252–268. https://doi.org/10.2307/1970774
  • A. Macintyre and A. J. Wilkie, On the decidability of the real exponential field, in Kreiseliana, A K Peters, 1996, 441–467.
  • M. Waldschmidt, Diophantine Approximation on Linear Algebraic Groups, Springer, 2000.
  • Wikipedia, Schanuel's conjecture. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Schanuel%27s_conjecture
39 thms2 active usersReviewed
🏆Completed
Category Theory·Captain: Lucas

Ideals in Balanced Algebras: the Gregarious IdealResearch Paper

Motivation

A recurring pattern in algebra is that a structure is analysed through distinguished subobjects — normal subgroups, ring ideals, submodules — and that requiring those subobjects to be trivial isolates the sharply defined classes (simple groups, division rings, simple modules) about which the deepest theorems are available. The manuscript Ideals in Balanced Algebras and the Genesis of Mathematics (A. Winkler, 2020) applies that pattern to a single primitive: a partial binary operation, an operation a⋅ba\cdot ba⋅b that need not be defined for every pair. Under one axiom — balance, which asserts that (ab)c(ab)c(ab)c is defined exactly when a(bc)a(bc)a(bc) is — several families of ideals appear automatically, and declaring each of them trivial (empty, or the whole algebra) carves out semigroups, monoids, quivers, associations, societies, categories, groupoids, groups and rings in turn.

No individual argument here is deep. What makes them worth machine-checking is that their content is definedness rather than equality: a statement such as "the gregarious elements form an ideal" is a claim about which products exist, proved by repeatedly moving brackets across a product that may fail to be defined at any step. Such arguments are easy to state loosely, and easy to get wrong by one implicit existence assumption. They are also the base layer on which the rest of the manuscript's programme rests. This mission formalizes that base layer: §1 (algebras, ideals, units), §2 (quivers), §4 (associators and associations), §4.1 (principal ideals) and §4.2 (the gregarious ideal).

Setting

An algebra on a type AAA is a partial binary operation: a rule assigning to some pairs (a,b)∈A×A(a,b)\in A\times A(a,b)∈A×A a value a⋅b∈Aa\cdot b\in Aa⋅b∈A. Write a⋅b↓a\cdot b\downarrowa⋅b↓ for "a⋅ba\cdot ba⋅b is defined". In the Lean development the operation is a total function A→A→Option AA\to A\to\mathrm{Option}\,AA→A→OptionA, where the value none\mathrm{none}none means undefined. Nothing else is assumed: no totality, no unit, no associativity.

The vocabulary used throughout, all relative to this one partial product:

  1. B⊆AB\subseteq AB⊆A is a left ideal if a⋅b∈Ba\cdot b\in Ba⋅b∈B whenever b∈Bb\in Bb∈B and a⋅b↓a\cdot b\downarrowa⋅b↓; a right ideal if b⋅a∈Bb\cdot a\in Bb⋅a∈B whenever b∈Bb\in Bb∈B and b⋅a↓b\cdot a\downarrowb⋅a↓; a subalgebra if b⋅c∈Bb\cdot c\in Bb⋅c∈B whenever b,c∈Bb,c\in Bb,c∈B and b⋅c↓b\cdot c\downarrowb⋅c↓.
  2. The right orbit of aaa is aA={c:∃b, a⋅b=c}aA=\{c:\exists b,\ a\cdot b=c\}aA={c:∃b, a⋅b=c}; the left orbit is dual.
  3. The algebra is balanced if, for all a,b,ca,b,ca,b,c, (a⋅b)⋅c(a\cdot b)\cdot c(a⋅b)⋅c is defined if and only if a⋅(b⋅c)a\cdot(b\cdot c)a⋅(b⋅c) is.
  4. uuu is a left unit if u⋅a=au\cdot a=au⋅a=a whenever u⋅a↓u\cdot a\downarrowu⋅a↓, and vvv is a right unit if a⋅v=aa\cdot v=aa⋅v=a whenever a⋅v↓a\cdot v\downarrowa⋅v↓. A left unit uuu is a source if a⋅u↓a\cdot u\downarrowa⋅u↓ only for a=ua=ua=u; a right unit vvv is a sink if v⋅b↓v\cdot b\downarrowv⋅b↓ only for b=vb=vb=v.
  5. bbb is associating if for all a,ca,ca,c the product (ab)c(ab)c(ab)c is defined exactly when a(bc)a(bc)a(bc) is, and the two values agree whenever both are defined. An association is an algebra all of whose elements are associating.
  6. bbb is gregarious if, whenever a⋅b↓a\cdot b\downarrowa⋅b↓ and b⋅c↓b\cdot c\downarrowb⋅c↓, at least one of (ab)c(ab)c(ab)c and a(bc)a(bc)a(bc) is defined. An association that coincides with its set of gregarious elements is a society; in the manuscript's terms, a quivered society is a category.
  7. bbb is left cancellable if b⋅x=b⋅yb\cdot x=b\cdot yb⋅x=b⋅y, with both sides defined, forces x=yx=yx=y.

Formalization targets

Goal — the gregarious ideal (§4.2)

If A is an association, then { b∈A:b is gregarious } is both a left ideal and a right ideal.\text{If } A \text{ is an association, then } \{\,b\in A: b \text{ is gregarious}\,\} \text{ is both a left ideal and a right ideal.}If A is an association, then {b∈A:b is gregarious} is both a left ideal and a right ideal.

This is the statement that gives the manuscript its notion of society: the gregarious elements of an association form the gregarious ideal, and an association whose gregarious ideal is everything is a society. The goal fixes no cardinality, no units and no totality, so it survives every specialization the manuscript makes afterwards.

Supporting targets

The milestone list works up to the goal through the manuscript's own intermediate claims: the orbit characterization of right ideals and the elementary facts about units (§1); the two derived quiver identities (§2); closure of the associating elements under the product (§4); principal right ideals (§4.1); gregariousness of sinks and sources, and the two one-sided closure statements for gregarious associating elements (§4.2); and the cancellation facts (§4) whose content is that the non-left-cancellable elements form a prime left ideal.

Significance

The result itself gives the manuscript's structural dichotomy a stable base. Once the gregarious elements are known to form an ideal, "society" is a triviality condition on an ideal rather than an ad hoc axiom, and the same is true of quivered (the elements admitting a unit on one side form an ideal, §1), of cancellative (the non-cancellable elements form a prime ideal, §4) and of principal (§4.1). The chain of specializations the manuscript then runs — association, society, quivered society, category, groupoid, group, ring — inherits whatever is proved here.

What this mission adds on top of the manuscript is machine-checked bookkeeping for partial operations. The arguments in the source are written in prose, with the existence of intermediate products often left implicit; formalizing them fixes exactly which existence facts each step consumes. The definitions published with this mission (partial algebra, ideal, balance, associating, gregarious, unit, source, sink, cancellable) are reusable for any later formalization of partial magmas, and nothing equivalent is currently in Mathlib, whose Magma-style structures are total and whose Quiver/Category hierarchy starts from typed hom-families rather than a single partial product.

Difficulty

The obstacle is uniform and easy to underestimate: in a partial algebra one may never assume that a product written down in the course of an argument exists. The naive proof of the goal — "rebracket and apply gregariousness of bbb" — fails at its first step, because from a⋅(bc)↓a\cdot(bc)\downarrowa⋅(bc)↓ alone one cannot conclude a⋅b↓a\cdot b\downarrowa⋅b↓; that inference is exactly what the hypothesis "bbb is associating" supplies, and it must be invoked explicitly. Gregariousness then returns a disjunction whose two branches produce products on opposite sides of the bracket, so each branch has to be transported back independently, consuming a further associating hypothesis. Counting these obligations correctly, rather than inventing new mathematics, is the work.

Formalization scope

The partial product is A → A → Option A; none is undefined, and a · b = c is rendered as the product evaluating to some c. Subsets are Set A, with no decidability or finiteness assumptions. Ideals are arbitrary subsets and are allowed to be empty — deliberately, since the manuscript's dichotomy turns on an ideal being empty or being everything. Statements quantify over an arbitrary type, including the empty type, where they hold vacuously.

Left/right duality is not obtained from a formal opposite-algebra construction: the dual statements are stated and are to be proved separately (for instance the two one-sided society closure milestones). A contributor who prefers to build the opposite algebra once and derive each dual from its mirror is welcome to; that construction is not part of the published definitions.

The statements are not vacuous: every hypothesis used is satisfiable, since any total associative operation makes all elements associating and gregarious, and the trivial one-element monoid satisfies every unit, source, sink and cancellation hypothesis appearing in the list. No milestone is stated under a hypothesis that cannot be met.

Selected references

  • A. Winkler, Ideals in Balanced Algebras and the Genesis of Mathematics, manuscript, 20 March 2020. Source text supplied by the mission owner; section and page references in the items below are to that manuscript.
  • S. Eilenberg and S. Mac Lane, General theory of natural equivalences, Transactions of the American Mathematical Society 58 (1945), 231–294. https://doi.org/10.1090/S0002-9947-1945-0013131-6
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Number Theory·Captain: Lucas

Grothendieck-Teichmüller: the graded Lie algebra grt_1 and the Deligne-Drinfeld-Ihara conjectureOpen Problem

Motivation

The Grothendieck-Teichmüller group organises a family of symmetries that act on braided monoidal categories, on quantised universal enveloping algebras, on the little-discs operad, and on the ring of periods of the projective line minus three points. Three versions exist: a profinite one GT^\widehat{GT}GT, introduced by Grothendieck and Drinfeld and containing the absolute Galois group Gal(Q‾/Q)\mathrm{Gal}(\overline{\mathbb Q}/\mathbb Q)Gal(Q​/Q); a pro-ℓ\ellℓ one; and a pro-unipotent one GTGTGT, together with its graded companion GRTGRTGRT. This mission is about the graded, pro-unipotent side, which is the version that governs the homological-algebra and deformation-quantisation applications, and which is closest to a concrete, computable object: a Lie algebra of Lie polynomials in two variables, cut out by three explicit equations.

Its Lie algebra grt1\mathfrak{grt}_1grt1​ carries a distinguished family of elements σ3,σ5,σ7,…\sigma_3, \sigma_5, \sigma_7, \dotsσ3​,σ5​,σ7​,…, one in each odd degree at least 333, produced from the Knizhnik-Zamolodchikov associator. Deligne, Drinfeld and Ihara conjectured that grt1\mathfrak{grt}_1grt1​ is the free Lie algebra on such a family. A timeline of what is actually known:

  • 1990 - V. Drinfeld, On quasitriangular quasi-Hopf algebras and a group closely connected with Gal(Q‾/Q)\mathrm{Gal}(\overline{\mathbb Q}/\mathbb Q)Gal(Q​/Q), introduces GTGTGT, GRTGRTGRT, associators, and the defining equations of grt1\mathfrak{grt}_1grt1​; the Knizhnik-Zamolodchikov associator shows the set of associators is non-empty, hence σ3,σ5,…\sigma_3, \sigma_5, \dotsσ3​,σ5​,… exist and are non-zero.
  • 2012 - F. Brown, Mixed Tate motives over Z\mathbb ZZ (Annals of Mathematics 175, 949-976, doi:10.4007/annals.2012.175.2.10), proves that the ζf(r1,…,rn)\zeta^{\mathfrak f}(r_1,\dots,r_n)ζf(r1​,…,rn​) with rj∈{2,3}r_j \in \{2,3\}rj​∈{2,3} form a basis of the algebra of motivic multiple zeta values. One half of the conjecture follows: the Lie subalgebra of grt1\mathfrak{grt}_1grt1​ generated by the σ2p+1\sigma_{2p+1}σ2p+1​ is free on them.
  • The converse half - that these elements generate all of grt1\mathfrak{grt}_1grt1​ - is open.

Setting

Let F(x,y)\mathbb{F}(x,y)F(x,y) be the free Lie algebra over Q\mathbb QQ on two generators xxx and yyy, graded by total word length. For a Lie algebra AAA over Q\mathbb QQ and a,b∈Aa, b \in Aa,b∈A, write ψ(a,b)\psi(a,b)ψ(a,b) for the image of ψ∈F(x,y)\psi \in \mathbb{F}(x,y)ψ∈F(x,y) under the unique Lie algebra morphism sending x↦ax \mapsto ax↦a and y↦by \mapsto by↦b.

For n≥1n \ge 1n≥1, the Drinfeld-Kohno Lie algebra tn\mathfrak t_ntn​ is generated over Q\mathbb QQ by symbols tijt_{ij}tij​, 1≤i,j≤n1 \le i, j \le n1≤i,j≤n, subject to

tii=0,tij=tji,[tij,tkl]=0,[tij,tik+tjk]=0,t_{ii} = 0, \qquad t_{ij} = t_{ji}, \qquad [t_{ij}, t_{kl}] = 0, \qquad [t_{ij}, t_{ik} + t_{jk}] = 0,tii​=0,tij​=tji​,[tij​,tkl​]=0,[tij​,tik​+tjk​]=0,

the third relation for i,j,k,li,j,k,li,j,k,l pairwise distinct and the fourth for i,j,ki,j,ki,j,k pairwise distinct. It is the Lie algebra of infinitesimal braid relations: the associated graded of the pure braid Lie algebra, and the coefficient algebra of the Knizhnik-Zamolodchikov connection.

The graded Grothendieck-Teichmüller Lie algebra grt1\mathfrak{grt}_1grt1​ is the set of ψ∈F(x,y)\psi \in \mathbb{F}(x,y)ψ∈F(x,y) satisfying three equations:

ψ(x,y)=−ψ(y,x),\psi(x,y) = -\psi(y,x),ψ(x,y)=−ψ(y,x), ψ(x,y)+ψ(y,z)+ψ(z,x)=0where x+y+z=0,\psi(x,y) + \psi(y,z) + \psi(z,x) = 0 \quad \text{where } x + y + z = 0,ψ(x,y)+ψ(y,z)+ψ(z,x)=0where x+y+z=0, ψ(t12,t23)−ψ(t12,t23+t24)+ψ(t12+t13,t24+t34)−ψ(t13+t23,t34)+ψ(t23,t34)=0  in t4.\psi(t_{12},t_{23}) - \psi(t_{12},t_{23}+t_{24}) + \psi(t_{12}+t_{13},t_{24}+t_{34}) - \psi(t_{13}+t_{23},t_{34}) + \psi(t_{23},t_{34}) = 0 \ \text{ in } \mathfrak t_4 .ψ(t12​,t23​)−ψ(t12​,t23​+t24​)+ψ(t12​+t13​,t24​+t34​)−ψ(t13​+t23​,t34​)+ψ(t23​,t34​)=0  in t4​.

All three are linear in ψ\psiψ and degree preserving, so grt1\mathfrak{grt}_1grt1​ is a graded Q\mathbb QQ-subspace.

grt1\mathfrak{grt}_1grt1​ is not closed under the bracket of F(x,y)\mathbb{F}(x,y)F(x,y); it is closed under the Ihara (Poisson) bracket

{f,g}=[f,g]+Dfg−Dgf,\{f,g\} = [f,g] + D_f g - D_g f,{f,g}=[f,g]+Df​g−Dg​f,

where DfD_fDf​ is the derivation of F(x,y)\mathbb{F}(x,y)F(x,y) determined by Dfx=0D_f x = 0Df​x=0 and Dfy=[y,f]D_f y = [y,f]Df​y=[y,f]. Writing Der\mathrm{Der}Der for the Lie algebra of derivations of F(x,y)\mathbb{F}(x,y)F(x,y) under the commutator, the assignment f↦Dff \mapsto D_ff↦Df​ satisfies [Df,Dg]=D{f,g}[D_f, D_g] = D_{\{f,g\}}[Df​,Dg​]=D{f,g}​, and it is injective on grt1\mathfrak{grt}_1grt1​; this is the form in which the Lie structure of grt1\mathfrak{grt}_1grt1​ is expressed in the formal statements below.

Finally, for n1≥2n_1 \ge 2n1​≥2 and n2,…,nk≥1n_2,\dots,n_k \ge 1n2​,…,nk​≥1 the multiple zeta value is

ζ(n1,…,nk)=∑j1>j2>⋯>jk≥11j1n1j2n2⋯jknk.\zeta(n_1,\dots,n_k) = \sum_{j_1 > j_2 > \cdots > j_k \ge 1} \frac{1}{j_1^{n_1} j_2^{n_2} \cdots j_k^{n_k}} .ζ(n1​,…,nk​)=j1​>j2​>⋯>jk​≥1∑​j1n1​​j2n2​​⋯jknk​​1​.

These numbers are the coefficients of the Knizhnik-Zamolodchikov associator, which is why they enter a mission about grt1\mathfrak{grt}_1grt1​; they satisfy the stuffle and shuffle relations, whose common refinement (the double shuffle relations) is the arithmetic side of the same story.

Formalization targets

Goal - Deligne-Drinfeld-Ihara

∃ σ0,σ1,σ2,⋯∈grt1,deg⁡σp=2p+3,such that grt1 is the free Lie algebra on (σp)p≥0 for { ,}.\exists\, \sigma_0, \sigma_1, \sigma_2, \dots \in \mathfrak{grt}_1, \quad \deg \sigma_p = 2p+3, \quad \text{such that } \mathfrak{grt}_1 \text{ is the free Lie algebra} \text{ on } (\sigma_p)_{p \ge 0} \text{ for } \{\,,\}.∃σ0​,σ1​,σ2​,⋯∈grt1​,degσp​=2p+3,such that grt1​ is the free Lie algebra on (σp​)p≥0​ for {,}.

Concretely: the Lie algebra morphism from the free Lie algebra on countably many generators to Der\mathrm{Der}Der sending the ppp-th generator to DσpD_{\sigma_p}Dσp​​ is injective, and its image is exactly D(grt1)D(\mathfrak{grt}_1)D(grt1​). The statement fixes the degrees of the generators but not the generators themselves, which is the weakest form that still carries the content of the conjecture.

Milestone level - Brown's half

The same family exists with the morphism merely injective: the σ2p+1\sigma_{2p+1}σ2p+1​ generate a free Lie subalgebra. This is a theorem (Brown 2012); the open part of the goal is surjectivity.

Supporting levels

The Ihara bracket is a Lie bracket; grt1\mathfrak{grt}_1grt1​ is closed under it; the degree-333 element [x+y,[x,y]][x+y,[x,y]][x+y,[x,y]] lies in grt1\mathfrak{grt}_1grt1​; every odd degree ≥3\ge 3≥3 contains a non-zero element of grt1\mathfrak{grt}_1grt1​; multiple zeta values satisfy the stuffle and shuffle relations; and ζ(2,1)=ζ(3)\zeta(2,1) = \zeta(3)ζ(2,1)=ζ(3).

Significance

A positive answer would determine grt1\mathfrak{grt}_1grt1​ completely and, through the GTGTGT-GRTGRTGRT-associator torsor, describe the pro-unipotent Grothendieck-Teichmüller group by generators without relations. Downstream it would pin down the homotopy automorphisms of the rationalised little-discs operad and the Lie algebra of the motivic Galois group of mixed Tate motives over Z\mathbb ZZ up to the same freeness statement. Without it, even the dimension of grt1\mathfrak{grt}_1grt1​ in a given degree is only known to be bounded above by the Broadhurst-Kreimer style count, with equality unproved.

Formalizing this mission produces a machine-checked definition of tn\mathfrak t_ntn​, grt1\mathfrak{grt}_1grt1​ and the Ihara bracket - objects that have no Mathlib counterpart at present - and machine-checked proofs of the Lie-theoretic facts around them. Brown's theorem itself is proved in the literature but not formalized; the goal statement is genuinely open, and no part of this mission is closed by an existing Lean development known to the proposal.

Difficulty

The obvious approach to the goal - exhibit the generators and count dimensions degree by degree - fails in both directions. Upwards, no closed formula for σ2p+1\sigma_{2p+1}σ2p+1​ is known: they are extracted from the Knizhnik-Zamolodchikov associator, whose coefficients are regularised iterated integrals, and only their leading coefficients are controlled. Downwards, freeness of the subalgebra they generate is not an algebraic manipulation of the three defining equations: Brown derives it from the motivic theory of multiple zeta values, where the missing input is a basis theorem for a period algebra, not an identity in F(x,y)\mathbb{F}(x,y)F(x,y). Even the milestone "grt1\mathfrak{grt}_1grt1​ is closed under the Ihara bracket" is not a formality: the pentagon equation lives in t4\mathfrak t_4t4​ and must be transported through substitutions into a quotient Lie algebra.

Formalization scope

The formalization commits to the following conventions, all visible in the definition files.

  1. The base field is Q\mathbb QQ. The source works over a field KKK of characteristic zero; every statement here is over Q\mathbb QQ.
  2. grt1\mathfrak{grt}_1grt1​ is modelled inside the free Lie algebra FreeLieAlgebra ℚ (Fin 2), i.e. by Lie polynomials, not the completed Lie algebra F^(x,y)\widehat{\mathbb{F}}(x,y)F(x,y) of the source. The three defining equations are homogeneous, so the graded object determines the completed one; solvers should be aware that no topology or completion appears anywhere.
  3. tn\mathfrak t_ntn​ is the quotient of the free Lie algebra on ordered pairs of indices in Fin n by the Lie ideal generated by the four relation families above, so dkGen i j is ti+1,j+1t_{i+1,j+1}ti+1,j+1​ under the shift Fin 4 = {0,1,2,3} versus indices 1,2,3,41,2,3,41,2,3,4.
  4. Homogeneity is expressed by the rescaling characterisation: ψ\psiψ has degree nnn if ψ(cx,cy)=cnψ(x,y)\psi(cx,cy) = c^n \psi(x,y)ψ(cx,cy)=cnψ(x,y) for all c∈Qc \in \mathbb Qc∈Q. Over an infinite field this is equivalent to homogeneity for the word-length grading.
  5. The Ihara derivation uses Dfx=0D_f x = 0Df​x=0. The source writes Dfx=xD_f x = xDf​x=x in Remark 4.4 and in Section 7.3, but that convention contradicts Lemma 7.2 of the same notes and the computation {x,y}=[x,y]+[y,x]=0\{x,y\} = [x,y] + [y,x] = 0{x,y}=[x,y]+[y,x]=0 in Remark 7.2; Dfx=0D_f x = 0Df​x=0 is the convention under which both hold, and is the standard one.
  6. The Lie structure on grt1\mathfrak{grt}_1grt1​ is carried by the injection f↦Dff \mapsto D_ff↦Df​ into LieDerivation ℚ (FreeLieAlgebra ℚ (Fin 2)) (FreeLieAlgebra ℚ (Fin 2)), so that freeness can be stated as injectivity of a morphism out of a free Lie algebra without first installing a new Lie algebra structure. Note f↦Dff \mapsto D_ff↦Df​ is injective on grt1\mathfrak{grt}_1grt1​ but not on all of F(x,y)\mathbb{F}(x,y)F(x,y), where Dy=0D_y = 0Dy​=0; a supporting item records the injectivity actually used.
  7. Multiple zeta values are real numbers defined by an iterated tsum; for non-admissible words the series diverges and the definition returns Mathlib's junk value. Every statement about them therefore carries an admissibility hypothesis: all letters ≥1\ge 1≥1 and first letter ≥2\ge 2≥2. The stuffle and shuffle products are multisets of words, so no free module on words is needed.
  8. Nothing here is vacuous by construction: the defining equations of grt1\mathfrak{grt}_1grt1​ are linear conditions on a non-zero graded space, t4≠0\mathfrak t_4 \ne 0t4​=0, and the milestone [x+y,[x,y]]∈grt1[x+y,[x,y]] \in \mathfrak{grt}_1[x+y,[x,y]]∈grt1​, [x+y,[x,y]]≠0[x+y,[x,y]] \ne 0[x+y,[x,y]]=0 exhibits a non-zero element.

Contributions welcome: the Lie-theoretic milestones (Lemma 7.2, Corollary 7.1, closure of grt1\mathfrak{grt}_1grt1​, the degree-333 element) are self-contained and need no motivic input; the multiple zeta milestones need summability infrastructure for iterated series; Brown's theorem and the goal need a substantial development that does not yet exist in Lean.

Selected references

  • V. G. Drinfeld, On quasitriangular quasi-Hopf algebras and a group closely connected with Gal(Q‾/Q)\mathrm{Gal}(\overline{\mathbb Q}/\mathbb Q)Gal(Q​/Q), Leningrad Math. J. 2 (1991), 829-860.
  • F. Brown, Mixed Tate motives over Z\mathbb ZZ, Annals of Mathematics 175 (2012), 949-976, doi:10.4007/annals.2012.175.2.10.
  • T. Willwacher, The Grothendieck-Teichmüller Group, ETH Zürich lecture notes, 27 February 2014 (the source text for this mission).
  • T. Willwacher, M. Kontsevich's graph complex and the Grothendieck-Teichmüller Lie algebra, Invent. Math. 200 (2015), 671-760, doi:10.1007/s00222-014-0528-x.
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