Mathematics Stack Exchange
Mathematics Stack Exchange

Questions tagged [conjectures]

For questions related to conjectures which are suspected to be true due to preliminary supporting evidence, but for which no proof or disproof has yet been found

In mathematics, a conjecture is a conclusion or a proposition based on incomplete information, for which no proof has yet been found. There are many famous conjectures. Some of them have been proved, in which case they're technically no longer conjectures, and some have been disproved, and many others which still remain open, are yet to be proved or disproved. A few well-known conjectures are famous enough to have their own tag on this site: the Collatz conjecture, the ABC conjecture, and Goldbach's conjecture.

A list of some well-known conjectures can be found on Wikipedia.

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Conjectures that have been disproved with extremely large counterexamples?

I just came back from my Number Theory course, and during the lecture there was mention of the Collatz Conjecture. I'm sure that everyone here is familiar with it; it describes an operation on a natural number – $n/2$ if it is even, $3n+1$ if it is…
Justin L.
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A variation of Fermat's little theorem in the form $a^{n-d}\equiv a$ (mod $p$).

Fermat's little theorem states that for $n$ prime, $$ a^n \equiv a \pmod{n}. $$ The values of $n$ for which this holds are the primes and the Carmichael numbers. If we modify the congruence slightly, $$ a^{n - 1} \equiv a \pmod{n}, $$ the values of…
Tavian Barnes
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Open mathematical questions for which we really, really have no idea what the answer is

There is no shortage of open problems in mathematics. While a formal proof for any of them remains elusive, with the "yes/no" questions among them mathematicians are typically not working in both directions but rather have a pretty clear idea of…
user139000
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Is there any conjecture that has been proved to be solvable/provable but whose direct solution/proof is not yet known?

In mathematics, is there any conjecture about the existence of an object that was proven to exist but that has not been explicitly constructed to this day? Here object could be any mathematical object, such as a number, function, algorithm, or even…
lone student
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Conjecture $\int_0^1\frac{\mathrm dx}{\sqrt{1-x}\ \sqrt[4]x\ \sqrt[4]{2-x\,\sqrt3}}\stackrel?=\frac{2\,\sqrt2}{3\,\sqrt[8]3}\pi$

$$\int_0^1\frac{\mathrm dx}{\sqrt{1-x}\ \sqrt[4]x\ \sqrt[4]{2-x\,\sqrt3}}\stackrel?=\frac{2\,\sqrt2}{3\,\sqrt[8]3}\pi\tag1$$ The equality numerically holds up to at least $10^4$ decimal digits. Can we prove that the equality is exact? An…
Vladimir Reshetnikov
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Why do mathematicians sometimes assume famous conjectures in their research?

I will use a specific example, but I mean in general. I went to a number theory conference and I saw one thing that surprised me: Nearly half the talks began with "Assuming the generalized Riemann Hypothesis..." Almost always, the crux of their…
Joseph DiNatale
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Conjecture $\int_0^1\frac{dx}{\sqrt[3]x\,\sqrt[6]{1-x}\,\sqrt{1-x\left(\sqrt{6}\sqrt{12+7\sqrt3}-3\sqrt3-6\right)^2}}=\frac\pi9(3+\sqrt2\sqrt[4]{27})$

Let $$\alpha=\sqrt{6}\ \sqrt{12+7\,\sqrt3}-3\,\sqrt3-6\,=\,\big(2+\sqrt{3}\big) \big(\sqrt{2} \sqrt[4]{27}-3\big)\,=\,\frac{3\sqrt{3}}{3+\sqrt2\ \sqrt[4]{27}}.\tag1$$ Note that $\alpha$ is the unique positive root of the polynomial…
Vladimir Reshetnikov
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Conjectured formula for the Fabius function

The Fabius function is the unique function ${\bf F}:\mathbb R\to[-1, 1]$ satisfying the following conditions: a functional–integral equation$\require{action} \require{enclose}{^{\texttip{\dagger}{a poet or philosopher could say "it knows and…
Vladimir Reshetnikov
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Integral $\int_1^\infty\operatorname{arccot}\left(1+\frac{2\pi}{\operatorname{arcoth}x-\operatorname{arccsc}x}\right)\frac{\mathrm dx}{\sqrt{x^2-1}}$

Consider the following integral: $$\mathcal{I}=\int_1^\infty\operatorname{arccot}\left(1+\frac{2\,\pi}{\operatorname{arcoth}x\,-\,\operatorname{arccsc}x}\right)\frac{\mathrm dx}{\sqrt{x^2-1}}\,,$$ where $\operatorname{arccsc}$ is the inverse…
Vladimir Reshetnikov
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Conjectures (or intuitions) that turned out wrong in an interesting or useful way

The question What seemingly innocuous results in mathematics require advanced proofs? prompts me to ask about conjectures or, less formally, beliefs or intuitions, that turned out wrong in interesting or useful ways. I have several in mind, but…
Ethan Bolker
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Conjecture $_2F_1\left(\frac14,\frac34;\,\frac23;\,\frac13\right)=\frac1{\sqrt{\sqrt{\frac4{\sqrt{2-\sqrt[3]4}}+\sqrt[3]{4}+4}-\sqrt{2-\sqrt[3]4}-2}}$

Using a numerical search on my computer I discovered the following inequality: $$\left|\,{_2F_1}\left(\frac14,\frac34;\,\frac23;\,\frac13\right)-\rho\,\right|<10^{-20000},\tag1$$ where $\rho$ is the positive root of the polynomial…
HWﾠ
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Can Erdős-Turán $\frac{5}{8}$ theorem be generalised that way?

Suppose for an arbitrary group word $w$ ower the alphabet of $n$ symbols $\mathfrak{U_w}$ is a variety of all groups $G$, that satisfy an identity $\forall a_1, … , a_n \in G$ $w(a_1, … , a_n) = e$. Is it true, that for any group word $w$ there…
Chain Markov
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Conjectured value of a harmonic sum $\sum_{n=1}^\infty\left(H_n-\,2H_{2n}+H_{4n}\right)^2$

There is a known asymptotic expansion of harmonic numbers $H_n$ for $n\to\infty$: $$\begin{align}H_n&=\gamma+\ln n+\sum_{k=1}^\infty\left(-\frac{B_k}{k\cdot n^k}\right)\\ &=\gamma+\ln…
Vladimir Reshetnikov
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Is $29$ the only prime of the form $p^p+2$?

I searched for primes of the form $p^p+2$, where $p$ is prime for a range of $p \le 10^5$ on PARI/GP and found that 29 is the only prime of this form in this range. Questions: $(1)$ Is $29$ the only prime of the form $p^p+2$, where $p$ is…
Mathphile
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Does $|n^2 \cos n|$ diverge to $+\infty$?

I was recently exposed to the problem of deciding whether $$ \lim_{n \to +\infty} |n \cos n| = +\infty$$ where the limit is taken over the integers. As $|\cos n|$ oscillates throughout the interval $[0,1]$, it seems plausible that every real number…
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