PƒPPrompts for Progress
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Complete resultmathematics · convex optimization

GPT-5.6 closes a zeroth-order convex-optimization gap

A 148-minute run using a CDC-style prompt produced the main quadratic lower-bound argument; Phillip Kerger checked and formally verified it, then obtained a stronger refinement in a later chat.

OutcomeComplete result
EvidenceFormal
Modehuman-ai collaboration
Promptfull

Editorial context

What happened

This is a particularly strong prompt-transfer case: a researcher explicitly adapted the Cycle Double Cover orchestration style to a different mathematical domain and preserved the resulting run.

Keep in view

The result was new and not peer reviewed at the research cutoff; the human researcher selected the problem, authored the elaborate prompt, checked the proof, and formalized it.

Chronology

Timeline

01
Original uninterrupted 148-minute runattempt · day date
02
Preprint, prompts, chats, and Lean repository shareddisclosure · day date

Trust boundaries

Validation

formalpassed

Author-reviewed Lean formalization; not yet peer reviewed at cutoff.

System

AI and tools

  • GPT-5.6 Sol Pro
  • Lean

People

Human contributors

  • Phillip Kerger

Organizations

Affiliations

  • UC Berkeley

Primary materials

Sources and artifacts