Fingerprint Databases for Theorems

Abstract: Suppose that mathematician M has just proved theorem T. How is M to know if her result is truly new, or if T already exists in the literature? I will discuss existing databases of theorems which assign a small, language-free, canonical, and searchable "fingerprint" to their entries.

This talk is also intended as a call to the mathematical community to devise such encodings of mathematical results, which can then be catalogued in searchable fingerprint databases. The pace of mathematical research makes these databases crucial tools for the advancement of our field, enhanced experimental mathematics, and even the refereeing process.

This material is based on joint work with Sara Billey.

Event Topic

Discrete Applied Math Seminar