Caltech Mathathon – first hackathon ever devoted to research level mathematics(mathathonchallenge.com)
266 points by astroanax 3 days ago | 95 comments
tl;dr: Caltech is hosting the first research-level math hackathon Oct 30–Nov 1, giving 100 teams 40 hours and $2M+ in AI credits to attack open conjectures using frontier models, then defend results before leading mathematicians. Prizes will be awarded on-site and again after community verification. The event is framed around recent AI-driven breakthroughs (e.g., claimed disproofs/constructions on Erdős's unit-distance conjecture, non-sofic groups, and complex structures on the six-sphere) and asks how AI reshapes mathematicians' roles.
HN Discussion:
  • Organizer clarifies event details and emphasizes responsible AI use commitment
  • Sharing useful resources like open problem lists for potential participants
  • Hackathon format is poorly suited to LLM-based math research workflows
  • Event fills a gap left by Caltech's weak CS/AI department offerings
  • Skepticism that big AI labs are exploiting mathematicians as cheap validation labor