Research · Updated 7 Oct, 10:17 am IST
Developer Jake Boggan reacts to reported proof of Barnette's Conjecture
Why it matters for readers: It’s a human glimpse into how mathematicians and developers react when a long-term open problem is reported solved.
- Simon Willison shared a Hacker News comment from Jake Boggan on 7 October 2026.1
- Boggan says Barnette's Conjecture is 'supposedly proven here' and refers to it as problem 180.1
- He moved to Budapest years ago to study graph theory and worked on the conjecture on and off for about 24 years.1
- Boggan says he spent thousands of hours on the problem and even thought last summer that he had solved it.1
- He described feeling a distant sadness on hearing the news, comparing it to learning of an ex-partner's sudden death.1
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