RIT student helps solve 90-year-old math equation

Henrietta, N.Y. – A 90-year-old math problem has finally been solved – and an RIT doctoral student is part of the team that got it done.

The problem is known as Keller’s Conjecture, and David Narvaez helped the team use computers to solve it.

“It feels great to be part of the team that solved this problem in particular, because my background combines a lot of mathematics and computer science, so I’ve always been interested in helping mathematicians through computers,” said Narvaez.

Keller’s Conjecture is a problem about identical tiles, most of them offset, and in which dimensions at least two of those tiles must line up.

We now know that Keller’s Conjecture is true in dimensions 1-7 – thanks to humans and computers coming together to answer a decades-old question.