Harvard Department of Mathematics

First Proof is an an effort to see whether LLMs can contribute meaningfully to pure mathematics research. The dust has settled on round one, and the results are surprising. Another round is commencing. scientificamerican.com/article/as-ai-…

@DeivonDrago Hello and thank you for asking! Professor Vafa was actually appointed Harvard Timken University Professor as of 2025: physics.harvard.edu/people/facpage…

@HarvardMath Wait. Did Vafa retire?

We are delighted to announce that Prof. Laura DeMarco was appointed the Hollis Professor of Mathematicks and Natural Philosophy, the second oldest named chair at Harvard and the oldest chair in science in all of the U.S.! #harvardmath math.harvard.edu/laura-demarco-…

"The verdict, it seems, is in: artificial intelligence is not about to replace mathematicians. That is the immediate takeaway from the “First Proof” challenge—perhaps the most robust test yet of the ability of LLMs to perform mathematical research." scientificamerican.com/article/first-…

Happy Euler's Day! To celebrate, join our own Lauren Williams and other world-renowned mathematicians in a grand experiment to more clearly define the boundary between artificial and human intelligence. news.harvard.edu/gazette/story/…

The Science Center courtyard is a winter wonderland right now! But are you familiar with the math behind snowflakes? From exploring hexagonal symmetry to understanding fractal geometry and self-similarity, snowflakes are a visual representation of abstract mathematical ideas.

"Another perfect square like 2025 (452 = 2,025) won’t occur again until 2116 (462 = 2,116). The year 2027 will be a prime number. By comparison, our current year, 2026, seems almost boring. But that’s a misconception." scientificamerican.com/article/why-20…

It is with heavy hearts that we say farewell to Professor Emeritus Benedict Gross, who passed away in December, 2025. We collected stories, anecdotes, and recollections about Gross’ impact on the lives of his friends, colleagues, and former students. math.harvard.edu/in-memory-of-p…

Harvard math professor Horng-Tzer Yau awarded 2026 Steele Prize for Seminal Contribution to Research alongside László Erdős and Benjamin Schlein. #harvardmath math.harvard.edu/horng-tzer-yau…

More than 50 Harvard students participated in the 86th William Lowell Putnam Mathematical Competition, the premier math contest for college undergraduates in North America. #harvardmath news.harvard.edu/gazette/story/…

"Explore a shape that can’t pass through itself, a teenage prodigy, and two new kinds of infinity." It's been a big year for math; here's to a bigger, better 2026! quantamagazine.org/the-year-in-ma…

At Cambridge Math Circle, Harvard faculty and alumni share puzzles, riddles, and joy. #harvardmath harvardmagazine.com/k-12/harvard-m…

A brief musical interlude before finals featuring Prof. Noam Elkies. Did you know: aside from being one of our most beloved math faculty members, he's an accomplished bass-baritone and composer, as well as a national chess master. He rings the bells at Lowell House most weekends.

The @amermathsoc has honored two Harvard math graduates with the 2026 Frank and Brennie Morgan Prize for Outstanding Research in Mathematics by an Undergraduate Student. Congratulations to Yunseo Choi and Eliot Hodges! #harvardmath math.harvard.edu/harvard-math-g…

Congratulations to all the Harvard students among the @rhodes_trust American Rhodes Scholar Class of 2026! And a special shoutout to the two math concentrators among them, seniors Jay Chooi and Emma Finn. #harvardmath news.harvard.edu/gazette/story/…

"For years, a French mathematician searched for a proof that a gigantic number is prime. His method is still used 150 years later." scientificamerican.com/article/how-to…

"In the mid-19th century, Bernhard Riemann conceived of a new way to think about mathematical spaces, providing the foundation for modern geometry and physics." quantamagazine.org/what-is-a-mani…

The annual HUMAween costume contest brought out some wonderfully whimsical ideas from our students! Those included characters from the game Deltarune, image and kernel, and a Hasse diagram of the butterfly lemma! #harvardmath #Halloween2025

Why are there gaps in the asteroid belt? According to our own Prof. Laura DeMarco, the answer can be found in dynamical systems, the branch of mathematics that deals with the evolution of chaotic systems over time. #harvardmath news.harvard.edu/gazette/story/…

#harvardmath's own Prof. Lauren Williams was awarded a 2025 MacArthur Fellowship for her uncovering unexpected connections between algebraic combinatorics and concepts in other areas of math and physics. #MacFellow Photo courtesy of @macfound