VibeMathedMath problems solved by AI

The Period-Index Conjecture

For a Brauer class on a variety, the period-index conjecture bounds the index in terms of the period and the dimension. Disproved: for any uncountable algebraically closed field kk of characteristic 00 and any d3d \geq 3 there is a dd-dimensional variety over kk carrying a Brauer class that violates it, for Hodge-theoretic reasons. For d=3d = 3 the construction needs no uncountability, so the conjecture fails already over Q\overline{\mathbf{Q}}.

Result
Disproved
Status
Resolved
AI contribution
AI co-developed
Method
Construction
Field
Algebraic geometry
Posed by
Year posed
Years open
Solved
2026-08-04
Model
ChatGPT
Vendor
OpenAI
Collaborators
Alexander Perry
Verification
Unreviewed
Publication
Preprint
Significance
30 / 100
Disclosed cost
Wikipedia
No dedicated article

What the AI did

The paper's AI disclosure is unusually specific about a partial success. Prompted to find a counterexample by the Hodge-theoretic strategy, ChatGPT produced an example that was flawed, but whose shape survived into the final solution: a quotient of the same form, with an abelian surface, a genus two curve and the group Z/4. The author refined that into the working construction.

Verification

arXiv preprint, not yet peer-reviewed.

Source

arXiv:2608.03684 - The period-index conjecture is false

Discussion