---
title: "Curtis’s conjecture"
authors:
  - "OpenAI (internal model)"
year: 2026
venue: "openai/math manuscript collection (GitHub), result family 316; unreviewed"
arxiv: null
doi: null
source: "https://github.com/openai/math/blob/main/preprints/The-Stable-Hurewicz-Image-of-the-Sphere-at-Two-September-25-2026/paper.pdf"
topics:
  - "openai-math"
  - "ai-generated-math"
  - "topology"
  - "unformalized"
seed_rank: 2171
seed_batch: "openai-math-2026-10-07"
reviewed: "2026-10-07"
pool: "maths-foundations"
relevance_score: 7
lineage: ai-mathematical-reasoning
cites:
  - title: "The Stable Hurewicz Image of the Sphere at Two"
    url: "https://github.com/openai/math/blob/main/preprints/The-Stable-Hurewicz-Image-of-the-Sphere-at-Two-September-25-2026/paper.pdf"
    year: 2026
    arxiv: null
    doi: null
---

# Curtis’s conjecture

## One-sentence takeaway

OpenAI's result family 316 (Topology) claims: Proves Curtis’s conjecture: the positive-degree mod-two stable Hurewicz image of the sphere is spanned by the images of the Hopf-invariant-one classes η, ν, σ and the Kervaire-invariant-one classes that exist.

## Why it matters here

Topology results are background for knot, surface and configuration-space reasoning in geometry code. More broadly, every card in this batch is evidence for the `ai-mathematical-reasoning` thread: per the repo README, an unreleased internal OpenAI model produced it, using about three hours of ChatGPT Pro thinking compute per result on average, across roughly 4,000 posed problems.

## Key ideas

- *The Stable Hurewicz Image of the Sphere at Two*: We prove Curtis's conjecture: in every positive degree, the mod-two stable Hurewicz image of the sphere is spanned by the images of η, ν, σ and the Kervaire-invariant-one classes that exist. Consequently, Eccles's conjecture holds for every sphere Sn with n > 0.

## Caveats

- Unreviewed: these are AI-generated manuscripts posted to GitHub with no peer review or arXiv deposit. The repo README says results are "at different stages of verification" and that "some of the unformalized results could have issues."
- This card restates the repo's family summary, manuscript abstracts and Lean scope notes. It is not an independent check of the proofs, and the scope of each theorem is exactly as stated there.
- Lean: not formalized. The repo has no Lean development for this family, so the claim rests on the prose manuscript(s) alone.

## Links

- Manuscript: [The Stable Hurewicz Image of the Sphere at Two](https://github.com/openai/math/blob/main/preprints/The-Stable-Hurewicz-Image-of-the-Sphere-at-Two-September-25-2026/paper.pdf)
- Family entry: https://github.com/openai/math/blob/main/CONTENTS.md
- Overview PDF: https://github.com/openai/math/blob/main/overview.pdf
- Repo: https://github.com/openai/math