Earlier this year, Sidharth Hariharan, a mathematics graduate student at Carnegie Mellon University, experienced an emotional moment that led him to rush into his adviser's office, tears streaming down his face.
He had just received a significant email from Maryna Viazovska, a professor at the École Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne in Switzerland and a recipient of the prestigious Fields Medal in 2022—the pinnacle of achievement in the field of mathematics.
For over two years, Hariharan and Dr. Viazovska had collaborated with a team of six mathematicians to break down one of her renowned proofs into clear, logical steps, a complex endeavor known as formalization.
However, earlier that day, Dr. Viazovska had received alarming news from a colleague—they had been outpaced in their research. In her reflections, she humorously noted that they had been “gotten Gaussed,” referencing the mathematician Carl Friedrich Gauss, highlighting the unexpected turn of events in their pursuit.
