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Timothy Gowers

@wtgowers.bsky.social
4.8K followers 180 following 403 posts

Mathematics professor at Collège de France and fellow of Trinity College Cambridge.

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Timothy Gowers @wtgowers.bsky.social · 30/09/2026
The advisory group on mathematics and artificial intelligence, of which I am a member, has just published a set of recommendations concerning the responsible release of mathematical results generated by AI companies using internal models. 1/3 agmai.org/general-sep29/
agmai.org
general-sep29
Responsible Release of AI-Generated Mathematics September 29, 2026 Back to main page Download PDF At present, some frontier AI labs are testing advanced mathematical problems on proprietary models …
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Timothy Gowers @wtgowers.bsky.social · 23/09/2026
If you want a better idea of how the newly formed Advisory Group on Mathematics and AI sees its work, and in particular its immediate task of advising OpenAI on how best to release their results, I recommend a recent blog post of Martin Hairer. proofsandprompts.com/2026/09/22/w...
proofsandprompts.com
Why I agreed to join AGMAI
Martin Hairer Professor of Pure Mathematics at EPFL and Imperial College London There has been a lot of speculation regarding the “Advisory Group on Mathematics and Artifical Intelligence&#82…
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Timothy Gowers @wtgowers.bsky.social · 17/09/2026
I've written a blog post responding to the letter about maths and AI signed by 25 Fields medallists. As with the Leiden Declaration, I didn't sign it, but I agree with much of it and welcome its existence. gowers.wordpress.com/2026/09/17/w...
gowers.wordpress.com
Why I didn’t sign the Fields medallists’ letter
When I was around 11 I heard for the first time about Fermat’s Last Theorem. I was immediately captivated by the problem statement, as well as by the accompanying story, and made a fairly ser…
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Timothy Gowers @wtgowers.bsky.social · 04/09/2026
Kevin Buzzard's thoughts on Fermat's Last Theorem being autoformalized in Lean. xenaproject.wordpress.com/2026/09/04/f...
xenaproject.wordpress.com
FLT: Anthropic has beaten me to it
I guess technically it was revealed to the world by a coffee shop in Islington on Insta, but an hour later it was officially announced by Anthropic: one of their internal models, using the prove2.m…
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Timothy Gowers @wtgowers.bsky.social · 12/08/2026
I've just written a blog post about whether current LLMs are better at some kinds of mathematics than others, with an emphasis on "current", given how quickly the situation is developing. gowers.wordpress.com/2026/08/12/w...
gowers.wordpress.com
What sort of maths are LLMs good at?
For the sake of anyone who might read this blog post in the distant future (a month from now, say), let me mention that I am writing it a few days after OpenAI announced that it had solved ten majo…
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Timothy Gowers @wtgowers.bsky.social · 11/08/2026
I've seen bad reasons for airport expansion, but this is a new level of bad.
Heathrow says need for expansion 'clear' as it loses title of Europe's busiest airport
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Timothy Gowers @wtgowers.bsky.social · 18/07/2026
My sympathies to any Arsenal hate-watchers this evening.
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Timothy Gowers @wtgowers.bsky.social · 15/07/2026
I've now watched both Arsenal in the Champions League final and England in the World Cup semifinal go 1-0 up and from that moment give up all thoughts of playing out from the back. Why do teams do this, when hoofing the ball up the field just seems to invite pressure?
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Timothy Gowers @wtgowers.bsky.social · 20/05/2026
OpenAI's claim that this is a central conjecture in discrete geometry is not an exaggeration. This will I think be looked back on as the first time that AI solved a major mathematics problem (defined as a problem that all experts in some subfield had thought about). openai.com/index/model-...
openai.com
An OpenAI model has disproved a central conjecture in discrete geometry
An OpenAI model solved the 80-year-old unit distance problem, disproving a major conjecture in discrete geometry and marking a milestone in AI-driven mathematics.
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Reposted by Timothy Gowers
Anne Applebaum @anneapplebaum.wsocial.eu · 26/04/2026
Trump and Elon Musk destroyed most of the global H.I.V. program that saved hundreds of thousands of lives in Zambia. Now the US is threatening to cut remaining support, unless Zambia gives access to the country’s mineral resources. www.nytimes.com/2026/04/25/h...
nytimes.com
AIDS Creeps Back in Parts of Zambia, a Year After U.S. Cuts to H.I.V. Assistance
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Timothy Gowers @wtgowers.bsky.social · 20/03/2026
I've created a couple of mathematical games, both based on word problems in groups or semigroups. One of them could lead to a Polymath project if enough people are interested in it, as it is connected with an open problem. More details in the linked blog post.
gowers.wordpress.com
Group and semigroup puzzles and a possible Polymath project
An Artin-Tits group is a group with a finite set of generators $latex a_1,\dots a_k$ in which every relation is of the form $latex (ab)^r=(ba)^r$ or $latex (ab)^ra=(ba)^rb$ for some positive intege…
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Timothy Gowers @wtgowers.bsky.social · 15/03/2026
It was a pleasure to be interviewed by Madeleine Tao for pi day (even if the photo below might suggest otherwise). www.youtube.com/watch?v=zv9O...
youtube.com
Happy π Day from Tim Gowers: Mathematics, AI, and the Future of Collaboration
YouTube video by SAIR
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Timothy Gowers @wtgowers.bsky.social · 02/03/2026
Oops, missed this. Quite remarkable.
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Timothy Gowers @wtgowers.bsky.social · 21/02/2026
I get two or three emails a day from people wanting me to comment on their new mathematical theories, but today marked a first: the email began with the words "Dear Terence Tao". (To be clear, I wasn't being cc-ed in to a message to Terence Tao.)
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Timothy Gowers @wtgowers.bsky.social · 13/02/2026
Something tells me my prime minister would find this sign less amusing than I do.
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Timothy Gowers @wtgowers.bsky.social · 09/02/2026
The two closest people to me in this map turned out to be @teorth.bsky.social and @gregegansf.bsky.social -- I couldn't be happier.
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Timothy Gowers @wtgowers.bsky.social · 02/02/2026
A complaint I have about intelligent extraterrestrial life in almost all science fiction is that the beings are boringly humanoid. I was recently given Diaspora by @gregegansf.bsky.social, an author I've been meaning to read for a long time. It turned out to be a glorious exception to this rule.
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Timothy Gowers @wtgowers.bsky.social · 13/01/2026
Some seem surprised that one can hold the following three beliefs simultaneously. 1. The October 7th attacks were appalling. 2. Israel's response has been appalling. 3. The Iranian regime is appalling and it would be great if it were overthrown (assuming something worse didn't replace it).
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Timothy Gowers @wtgowers.bsky.social · 03/01/2026
It may not be the worst aspect of the US invasion of Venezuela, but the fact that Trump cites Venezuela's failure to pump enough oil out of the ground as one of his reasons for invading is nevertheless deeply depressing.
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Timothy Gowers @wtgowers.bsky.social · 02/01/2026
This, but adding 1. My main non-plane trips in 2025 were one train journey to Venice, one to Leiden, and one to Saint Jean de Luz in the south west corner of France. All three went smoothly -- as last year my main gripe is that it is quite a bit more expensive to go by train than to fly.
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Timothy Gowers @wtgowers.bsky.social · 22/11/2025
Four degrees of separation: "Countries meeting in Brazil for two weeks could manage only a voluntary agreement to begin discussions on a roadmap to an eventual phase-out of fossil fuels ..." www.theguardian.com/environment/...
theguardian.com
End of fossil fuel era inches closer as Cop30 deal agreed after bitter standoff
Wealthy countries should triple funds for countries to tackle climate impacts, but deforestation and critical minerals blocked from final deal
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Timothy Gowers @wtgowers.bsky.social · 22/11/2025
This comment has a strong guns-don't-kill-people vibe.
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Timothy Gowers @wtgowers.bsky.social · 11/11/2025
Around ten years ago Marijn Heule, Oliver Kullmann and Victor Marek proved that if you 2-colour the positive integers from 1 to 7825, then you must be able to find x, y and z all of the same colour with x^2+y^2=z^2 -- that is, a monochromatic Pythagorean triple. 1/
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Timothy Gowers @wtgowers.bsky.social · 31/10/2025
I crossed an interesting threshold yesterday, which I think many other mathematicians have been crossing recently as well. In the middle of trying to prove a result, I identified a statement that looked true and that would, if true, be useful to me. 1/3
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Reposted by Timothy Gowers
Société Mathématique de France @socmathfrance.bsky.social · 24/10/2025
Quel sera l’impact de l’IA sur les mathématiques dans les prochaines années ? par @wtgowers.bsky.social @college-de-france.fr www.youtube.com/watch?v=bcTW...
youtube.com
Quel sera l’impact de l’IA sur les mathématiques dans les prochaines années ? - Timothy Gowers
YouTube video by Collège de France
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Timothy Gowers @wtgowers.bsky.social · 15/10/2025
I can just about cope with the idea that the amount of CO2 in the atmosphere has hit a new record -- it's what one would expect even if we were rapidly decarbonizing. But that the *rate of increase* has hit a new record is unbelievably depressing. www.theguardian.com/environment/...
theguardian.com
Record leap in CO2 fuels fears of accelerating global heating
CO2 in air hit new high last year, with scientists concerned natural land and ocean carbon sinks are weakening
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Reposted by Timothy Gowers
Kevin Anderson @kevinclimate.bsky.social · 26/09/2025
Gatwick expansion blows another huge hole in the UK Government's already perforated climate commitments. New article on Gatwick expansion with my @tyndallcentre.bsky.social colleague Dr Lois Pennington @loispennington.bsky.social climateuncensored.com/gatwick-expa...
climateuncensored.com
Gatwick Expansion: A Direct Assault on Climate Commitments - Climate Uncensored
Comment on UK Government announcement of Gatwick Airport expansion by Professor Kevin Anderson and Dr. Lois Pennington, of Tyndall Centre, University of
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Timothy Gowers @wtgowers.bsky.social · 23/09/2025
Many thanks to the sender of an email that includes the heartwarming sentence, "I have long admired your contributions to mathematics, particularly [insert their field or specific result you respect]."
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Timothy Gowers @wtgowers.bsky.social · 22/09/2025
Happy to be able to say that my automatic theorem proving group in Cambridge submitted a successful bid to the AI for Math Fund, launched this year by Renaissance Philanthropy and XTX Markets. Here is the fund website, which contains descriptions of all the 29 projects to be funded.
renaissancephilanthropy.org
AI for Math Fund — Renaissance Philanthropy – A brighter future for all through science, technology, and innovation
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Timothy Gowers @wtgowers.bsky.social · 18/08/2025
The UK's terrorism problem has just got a whole lot worse.
theguardian.com
Protester arrested over ‘Plasticine Action’ T-shirt: ‘How ridiculous is this?’
Miles Pickering says crowd at protest over Palestine Action ban was laughing at ‘silliness’ of scene as he was detained
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Timothy Gowers @wtgowers.bsky.social · 17/08/2025
Around a year ago my mother, my two sisters and I attended an event of a kind we would never normally go to: a celebration for fans of a TV series, who came from all over the world. The series in question was Granada TV's version of Sherlock Holmes, starring Jeremy Brett. 1/2
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Timothy Gowers @wtgowers.bsky.social · 09/08/2025
This article points out that of the three people in the infamous photo of Prince Andrew, Virginia Giuffre, and Ghislaine Maxwell, Andrew is the only one who isn't either dead or in prison. In other news, I am the only one out of me, Keir Starmer and Bukayo Saka who isn't either a PM or a footballer.
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Timothy Gowers @wtgowers.bsky.social · 20/07/2025
I have now added a third video to this IMO2025 series, in which I solve Question 5 (in about an hour and a half).
youtube.com
IMO2025Q5
YouTube video by Timothy Gowers
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Timothy Gowers @wtgowers.bsky.social · 19/07/2025
I have added a second video to this IMO2025 series, in which I solve Question 4. (I decided to skip Q2 as it was geometry and Q3 for now as it would normally be harder than Q4 and I want to work up.) It's pretty long -- an hour and 46 minutes -- but you can always watch at double speed.
youtube.com
IMO2025Q4
YouTube video by Timothy Gowers
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Timothy Gowers @wtgowers.bsky.social · 18/07/2025
From time to time I like to video myself solving maths problems in real time. Since the IMO has just happened, I plan to try a few of this year's questions. Here I get through Question 1. More to come at some point. www.youtube.com/watch?v=1G1n...
youtube.com
IMO2025Q1
YouTube video by Timothy Gowers
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Timothy Gowers @wtgowers.bsky.social · 01/07/2025
I've started a second blog, in which I will discuss in as systematic a way as I can topics about which people (including me) have strong feelings. I explain more about its nature and purpose in an introductory post. First up after that: a long post about the war in Gaza.
mathsandsoundingoff.wordpress.com
A mathematician sounds off
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Reposted by Timothy Gowers
minimaliste13 @minimaliste13.cpesr.fr · 06/06/2025
My friends Tony and Estelle (and Gilles) showed that Lipschitz-free Banach spaces can be more diverse than previously thought and at same time that opposition to authoritarian policies can be more diverse than previously thought. Be like them!
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Reposted by Timothy Gowers
Dr Charlie Gardner @charliejgardner.bsky.social · 05/06/2025
"We’re at a new point in human history,” Wagner says. Up until the last decade, “the major drivers of biodiversity losses around the planet were really land degradation and land loss, habitat loss. But I think now that climate change is by far exceeding that"
theguardian.com
‘Half the tree of life’: ecologists’ horror as nature reserves are emptied of insects
A new point in history has been reached, entomologists say, as climate-led species’ collapse moves up the food chain even in supposedly protected regions free of pesticides
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Timothy Gowers @wtgowers.bsky.social · 17/05/2025
Hmm, who to go for? www.theguardian.com/world/2025/m...
theguardian.com
‘Between a mathematician and a Trump-loving hooligan’: Romania’s stark presidential choice
The results of the election rerun could alter the future of the country, which is suffering under political divisions
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Timothy Gowers @wtgowers.bsky.social · 15/05/2025
I wonder what the "Why don't you go and protest in China?" brigade will make of this news. www.carbonbrief.org/analysis-cle...
carbonbrief.org
Analysis: Clean energy just put China’s CO2 emissions into reverse for first time - Carbon Brief
For the first time, the growth in China’s clean power generation has caused the nation’s carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions to fall despite rapid power demand growth.
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Timothy Gowers @wtgowers.bsky.social · 11/05/2025
Wow, looking forward to this!
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Timothy Gowers @wtgowers.bsky.social · 11/05/2025
Suppose we accept the premise that it is important for our care workers to be home grown. There are two steps: to solve the problem that it is very difficult to recruit home-grown care workers, and to stop recruiting care workers from abroad. Who in their right mind thinks step 2 comes first?
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Timothy Gowers @wtgowers.bsky.social · 07/05/2025
I'm reluctantly in favour of these experiments. I hope we never need to resort to geoengineering, but if, as seems a distinct possibility, we end up with a choice between geoengineering and catastrophe, then I'd rather we knew as much as possible about geoengineering before going ahead.
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Timothy Gowers @wtgowers.bsky.social · 01/05/2025
Today I have received by email: one disproof of the Riemann hypothesis, one proof that P =/= NP, one proof of the Riemann hypothesis, and one proof that Peano arithmetic is inconsistent (which follows from the two Riemann hypothesis papers, but this was an independent discovery).
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Timothy Gowers @wtgowers.bsky.social · 28/04/2025
I'm sorry fellow Arsenal supporters, but this would not have happened without City winning two of the last three titles and Liverpool one of them. So all the pain has been for a good cause. (Also, I want Arsenal to win their first title under Arteta after a certain player has moved on.)
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Timothy Gowers @wtgowers.bsky.social · 15/04/2025
Latest Truss idea: to launch a social network that by definition won't catch on. “... what I am doing is establishing a new free speech network, which will be uncensored and uncancellable, to actually talk about the issues people don’t want to talk about.” www.theguardian.com/politics/202...
theguardian.com
Liz Truss to launch ‘uncensored’ social network to counter mainstream media
Former PM says she wants to protect free speech after being ‘cut off at the knees’ by ‘the elite’ while at No 10
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Timothy Gowers @wtgowers.bsky.social · 03/04/2025
"Labour sources said that the promise of thousands of additional jobs had outweighed environmental considerations." www.theguardian.com/business/202...
theguardian.com
Luton airport allowed to double capacity after UK government overrules planners
Transport secretary Heidi Alexander grants consent to London’s fourth-biggest airport to allow potential 32m passengers a year
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Timothy Gowers @wtgowers.bsky.social · 27/03/2025
An interesting metaphor in today's Guardian.
A headline reads "Rachel Reeves accused of balancing books on back of UK's poorest".
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Timothy Gowers @wtgowers.bsky.social · 24/03/2025
Yesterday I touched my toes (with straight legs) for the first time for decades -- probably since I was a teenager. However much I was told that it's possible to improve one's flexibility, it somehow took actually doing it, via a nightly stretching exercise for about three months, to believe it.
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