DEPARTMENT OF PHYSICS / HIP JOINT COLLOQUIA / SEMINARS 2026

• • Tuesday 15 September 2026 at 10:15 in A315 and using Zoom: Joonas Nättilä (Helsinki)
    OpenAI’s (possible) solution to the Navier–Stokes Millennium Problem
    Abstract: The Navier–Stokes equations describe the dynamics of continuous fluids. Given a smooth initial condition, can the velocity field blow up in finite time, puncturing an otherwise smooth flow field? The question has been open for some ninety years, and carries a $1M prize as one of the Clay Mathematics Institute’s Millennium Problems. On 8 September 2026, OpenAI announced an alleged solution produced by an unreleased internal AI model, reportedly obtained by ~10,000 agents attacking the problem in parallel for 88 hours at a compute cost on the order of $20M. Remarkably, Tristan Buckmaster and Levent Alpöge posted their own human-led proof of finite-time blowup for the forced Euler equations (the inviscid version of Navier–Stokes) essentially in parallel. In this talk I will go through both results, the shrinking vortex structures they produce, and the crux of both constructions: how to keep the forcing function smooth.
    
  • Tuesday 29 September 2026 at 10:15 in A315 and using Zoom: Pranjal Tambe (Pune)
    TBA
    Abstract: TBA
  • Tuesday 20 October 2026 at 10:15 in A315 and using Zoom: Roman Zwicky (Edinburgh)
    TBA
    Abstract: TBA
  • Tuesday 3 November 2026 at 10:15 in A315 and using Zoom: Antti Hippeläinen (Helsinki)
    TBA
    Abstract: TBA

Hopefully the up to 50 min + 10 min discussion long seminar/colloquium will be understandable to a wide audience.
Contacts: Keijo Kajantie (keijo kajantie at helsinki fi) [ HIP seminar],
Tushar Gupta  (tushar.gupta at helsinki fi) [cosmo seminar]

Other related seminars

Friday 10-12 seminar series in D114: Astrophysics seminar
Mathematical Physics Seminar and Workshop series Wed 14-16 in Exactum C123.
InstituteQ Events and Seminars