Maths on the Move

There has been a lot of discussion about AI proofs, some of which we have covered earlier in this podcast series. But what actually happens when an AI proof is announced? How much credit should be assigned to human work? How much is hype? We spoke to Henry Bradford, our colleague at the University of Cambridge, about his experience after OpenAI announced a new result in his field of mathematics, concerning non-sofic groups. Through this case-study, he explains the mathematical ideas, as well as the ethical and practical questions that come up with the rise of AI technologies and their use in mathematics. 

You might also like:

An overview of groups

A short explainer of the Navier-Stokes equations

A summary of the 2026 International Congress of Mathematicians

If you would like to find out more about the mathematics involved in the result Henry is talking about, listen to the Director's cut, a longer version of this episode.  You can also find out more in the accompanying article.

Maths on the Move, is the podcast from plus.maths.org. We speak to researchers from the frontiers of mathematical science so you can connect with the maths that shapes and explains our world. Hosted by Plus editors Rachel Thomas and Marianne Freiberger.

There has been a lot of discussion about AI proofs, some of which we have covered earlier in this podcast series. But what actually happens when an AI proof is announced? How much credit should be assigned to human work? How much is hype? We spoke to Henry Bradford, our colleague at the University of Cambridge, about his experience after OpenAI announced a new result in his field of mathematics, concerning non-sofic groups. Through this case-study, he explains the mathematical ideas, as well as the ethical and practical questions that come up with the rise of AI technologies and their use in mathematics. 

You might also like:

An overview of groups

A short explainer of the Navier-Stokes equations

A summary of the 2026 International Congress of Mathematicians

This is the Director's cut version of this podcast episode, with more detail about the maths involved. Alternatively, you can listen to the original or you can find out more in the accompanying article.

Maths on the Move, is the podcast from plus.maths.org. We speak to researchers from the frontiers of mathematical science so you can connect with the maths that shapes and explains our world. Hosted by Plus editors Rachel Thomas and Marianne Freiberger.

Recently, Open AI announced that one of their systems had proved one of the hardest maths problems in the world – the Navier-Stokes Millennium Problem, which comes with a million dollar reward. Naturally it has shaken the maths world, but there’s still a lot of confusion about what has actually been proved and how. To get to the bottom of it, we knew exactly who to ask: Chris Budd OBE, a Professor at the University of Bath and long-time Plus collaborator. Chris has worked on the Navier-Stokes equations and currently co-leads the Maths for Deep Learning research project and he tells us what it has been like on the mathematical/AI frontline.

This is a rapidly developing area – since recording this podcast it has been established that the Open AI result does not apply to the Navier-Stokes equations in full generality (i.e. without forcing). We are continuing to follow developments and will be sharing updates as more information is released. In fact, we will have a number of other episodes in this podcast series about AI and maths, so make sure you are following for more!

You might also like:

An article on Navier-Stokes and AI

A quick overview of the Navier-Stokes equations

A collection of articles and podcasts on AI and mathematical proof 

All of our work with Chris on maths and deep learning

Maths on the Move, is the podcast from plus.maths.org. We speak to researchers from the frontiers of mathematical science so you can connect with the maths that shapes and explains our world. Hosted by Plus editors Rachel Thomas and Marianne Freiberger.

Should a life-saving, but expensive, cancer drug be made available on the NHS even though it only benefits very few people? Or should the money be allocated to drugs that lower blood pressure, which help vast swathes of the population? For the final episode of this season, we spoke to Joe Hilton, a health economist, to understand more about how difficult decisions like this one are made. 

Joe is a research fellow in mathematical modelling at the Manchester Centre for Health Economics and a 2025 JUNIPER Fellow. JUNIPER is a network of researchers across the UK working to prepare the country for the public health challenges of the future. We spoke to Joe at JUNIPER’s annual meeting to understand more about the role of maths and economics in healthcare. He also talked us through his path into this job and what it was like going into research into health policy in 2020 at the very start of the pandemic! 

To find out more about the mathematics of health, you might enjoy:

This article about about how mathematical models are used in epidemiology

An exploration of how you can use maths to understand disease spread in a hospital

Another podcast on how modellers work between maths and medicine

Maths on the Move, is the podcast from plus.maths.org. We speak to researchers from the frontiers of mathematical science so you can connect with the maths that shapes and explains our world. Hosted by Plus editors Rachel Thomas and Marianne Freiberger.

This podcast is part of our collaboration with JUNIPER, the Joint UNIversities Pandemic and Epidemiological Research network. JUNIPER is a collaborative network of researchers from across the UK who work at the interface between mathematical modelling, infectious disease control and public health policy. You can see more content produced with JUNIPER here.

“He asked me this question because I'm his sister and he loves me.” 

Mathematics can often be seen as a solitary endeavour, but as this quote from one of our latest podcast guests show, that is far from the truth. In this episode, we learn how a new proof has developed from one young mathematician talking to his sister – and then collaborating with their father and close family friend. We spoke to Roman Sauer and Uri Bader – and Uri’s two children Saar and Shaked – after they had attended a residential research programme at the Isaac Newton Institute where they had worked together and proved a rigidity result around symmetries and group theory. We spoke to all four of them to understand the result, what it was like working together, and how they each got into maths. 

Please note, this episode includes more technical mathematical descriptions than is standard for our podcasts so you may want a strong cup of coffee before you dive in!

To find out more about the maths discussed in this episode, you might like: 

An introduction to group theory

A very short overview of symmetry and groups

A podcast on group theory

Maths on the Move, is the podcast from plus.maths.org. We speak to researchers from the frontiers of mathematical science so you can connect with the maths that shapes and explains our world. Hosted by Plus editors Rachel Thomas and Marianne Freiberger.

This podcast forms part of our collaboration with the Isaac Newton Institute for Mathematical Sciences (INI) – you can find all the content from the collaboration here.

The INI is an international research centre and our neighbour here on the University of Cambridge's maths campus. It attracts leading mathematical scientists from all over the world, and is open to all. Visit www.newton.ac.uk to find out more.