the.com/theorem
a promise that, once proven, the universe is contractually obligated to keep forever
means A statement in mathematics or logic that has been (or can be) proven true by following from accepted axioms and prior results.
from From Greek 'theorema,' meaning 'a thing looked at, a sight, a spectacle,' built on 'theorein,' 'to look at, contemplate' — the same root that gives us 'theory' and even 'theater.' To the Greeks a theorem was literally something you beheld with the mind's eye: a truth viewed and considered until it became undeniable. It reached English in the 16th century by way of Latin 'theorema.'
- unproven cousin
- A conjecture is a theorem before it earns its diploma
- longest proof
- Classification of finite simple groups spans tens of thousands of pages
- Greek origin
- From theorema, meaning a thing contemplated or beheld
- machine-checked
- Computers now verify proofs humans struggle to finish
- Fermat's troll
- His margin note waited 358 years for a proof
pythagorean theorem — a² + b² = c² for right triangles, proven by pythagoras around 500 bce
fermat's last theorem — no three positive integers satisfy xⁿ + yⁿ = zⁿ for n > 2, proved by andrew wiles in 1995
central limit theorem — distribution of sample means approaches normal distribution, foundational to statistics and probability