Hannah Cairo
Hannah Mira Cairo | |
|---|---|
| Born | 2007 (age 17–18) Nassau, Bahamas |
| Nationality | American |
| Alma mater | University of California, Berkeley |
| Known for | Disproof of the Mizohata–Takeuchi conjecture |
| Scientific career | |
| Fields | Harmonic analysis, Fourier restriction theory |
| Academic advisors | Ruixiang Zhang |
Hannah Mira Cairo (born 2007) is an American mathematician who gained recognition at age 17 for disproving the longstanding Mizohata–Takeuchi conjecture in harmonic analysis.
Early life and education
Cairo was born in Nassau, Bahamas.[1] Cairo is transgender.[2] She began studying mathematics using online lessons from Khan Academy, and finished calculus by age 11.[3] During the COVID-19 pandemic, she began participating in the Berkeley Math Circle (BMC) remotely.[4] After moving to the United States, she continued to attend university-level mathematics lectures at the University of California, Berkeley, including courses taught by mathematician Ruixiang Zhang.[1]
In fall 2025, she is expected to begin her PhD studies at the University of Maryland,[4] focusing on Fourier restriction theory.[2]
Mathematical work
While studying under Zhang, Cairo began working on the Mizohata–Takeuchi conjecture, which had remained unresolved since the 1980s.[5] Initially aiming to prove the conjecture, she instead constructed a counterexample that disproved it.[4] Her work involved using fractals and other tools and originally resulted in a more complex counterexample before finding a simpler example after reformulating the problem in frequency space.[6]
Her findings were published in the preprint titled A Counterexample to the Mizohata–Takeuchi Conjecture and uploaded to the arXiv preprint server on February 10, 2025. Later that year, she presented her work at the 12th International Congress on Harmonic Analysis and Partial Differential Equations in El Escorial, Spain.[4] Media described her as one of the youngest mathematicians to resolve a major open problem.[1][4][7][8][3]
See also
Selected publications
- Cairo, Hannah Mira (2025). "A Counterexample to the Mizohata–Takeuchi Conjecture". arXiv.
References
- ^ a b c Kleindl, Reinhard (4 July 2025). "17-jährige Schülerin löst ein jahrzehntealtes Mathematikproblem" [17-year-old student solves a decades-old math problem]. Der Standard (in German). Archived from the original on 8 July 2025. Retrieved 12 July 2025.
- ^ a b Hasson, Emma R. (4 August 2025). "Teen Hannah Cairo's Mathematical Discovery Sends Ripples through Harmonic Analysis". Scientific American. Retrieved 6 August 2025.
- ^ a b Hartnett, Kevin (1 August 2025). "At 17, Hannah Cairo Solved a Major Math Mystery". Quanta Magazine. Retrieved 1 August 2025.
- ^ a b c d e Timón, Ágata A (1 July 2025). "A 17-year-old teen refutes a mathematical conjecture proposed 40 years ago". El País. ProQuest 3226530728. Archived from the original on 12 July 2025. Retrieved 12 July 2025.
- ^ Nguyen, Lisa (29 July 2025). "Mizohata-Takeuchi-Vermutung: 17-jährige Schülerin löst ein jahrzehntealtes Mathe-Problem" [Mizohata-Takeuchi conjecture: 17-year-old student solves a decades-old math problem]. Tages-Anzeiger (in German). Retrieved 2 August 2025.
- ^ Shavit, Joshua (12 July 2025). "Teen stuns math community by disproving widely accepted 40-year-old math conjecture". AOL Today. Retrieved 1 August 2025.
- ^ Schulz, Adrian; Önal, Özben (17 July 2025). "17-Jährige löste jahrzehntealtes Rätsel: "Manchmal lege ich mich früher ins Bett, um über Mathe nachzudenken"" [17-year-old solves decades-old puzzle: "Sometimes I go to bed early to think about math"]. Der Tagesspiegel Online (in German). ISSN 1865-2263. Retrieved 17 July 2025.
- ^ Bischoff, Manon (16 July 2025). "Harmonische Analysis: 17-Jährige widerlegt jahrzehntealte Mathematik-Vermutung" [Harmonic Analysis: 17-year-old refutes decades-old mathematical conjecture]. Spektrum.de (in German). Retrieved 17 July 2025.