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A counterexample to Griffiths’ positivity conjecture

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Constructs ample rank-two bundles on \(\mathbb P^1\times\mathbb P^1\) with no smooth Hermitian metric of strictly Griffiths-positive curvature, disproving Griffiths’ positivity conjecture already on the quadric surface. (OpenAI’s Lean note)

Lean is a language for mathematical statements and proofs that a computer can verify. The assessments below ask whether those statements express the result OpenAI describes here.

Both independent assessments find that the Lean statements express or imply the whole result described above. Read the assessments

The paper states

Theorem 1.1

In Ample rank-two bundles on the quadric surface without Griffiths-positive metrics, 24 September 2026

Possible match to OpenAI’s description, selected from the papers’ main statements because it shares the most wording. No review confirming the selection is recorded.

There is an algebraic vector bundle G of rank two on S such that, for every positive integer m, the bundle

E_m=f_m^*G\otimes P

is ample. There is an integer m_0 such that E_m admits no smooth Hermitian metric with strictly Griffiths-positive Chern curvature for every m\ge m_0.

Reported proof verification
One Lean statement in the release; three independent groups report that Comparator accepted runs for this file at the version shown here.

Papers

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Ample rank-two bundles on the quadric surface without Griffiths-positive metrics

24 September 2026, current edition.

Read it herePDF

We give counterexamples to Griffiths’ conjecture in rank two on the quadric surface \(\mathbb P^1\times\mathbb P^1\). We construct an explicit bundle G whose coordinatewise power pullbacks, tensored with \(\mathcal O(1,1)\), are ample for every positive power, but admit no smooth strictly Griffiths-positive Hermitian metric for all sufficiently large powers.

One Lean statement in this family

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For a configured theorem, the Comparator program tests whether OpenAI’s separate proof proves the exact Lean statement using only the allowed axioms. Some statement files instead configure definitions for comparison by name and type. Acceptance does not establish that a formal statement means the same thing as the paper’s theorem.

QuadricBundles

The paper states

The words they share: smooth, strictly, algebraic, two, metric, ample, griffiths, hermitian, rank, vector, positive, integer, bundle, surface, quadric, admits.

Possible Lean counterpart

Selected from shared wording. No review of whether the statements mean the same thing is recorded.

Ample bundles without Griffiths-positive metrics

QuadricBundles.lean, the release lists it as a main result.

def SourceMainTheorem : Prop :=  ∃ G : AlgebraicRankTwoBundle, ∃ E : ℕ → AlgebraicRankTwoBundle,    (∀ m, 0 < m → IsPowerPullbackTwist G m (E m)) ∧    (∀ m, 0 < m → IsAmple (E m)) ∧    ∃ m₀ : ℕ, 0 < m₀ ∧ ∀ m, m₀ ≤ m →      ¬ ∃ h : SmoothHermitianMetric (E m), h.StrictlyGriffithsPositivetheorem main_theorem : SourceMainTheorem := by  sorry

This file states the theorem with sorry, a placeholder, in place of its proof. OpenAI supplies a separate proof file. Comparator tests whether that proof proves the statement here.

three independent groups report that Comparator accepted runs for this Lean statement file: cert-machine; MathVet; Neal McBurnett, openai-math-lean-tooling. Who ran the proof-verification program

  • cert-machine records it as “CERTIFIED”.
  • MathVet records it as “comparator-sandboxed-pass”.
  • Neal McBurnett, openai-math-lean-tooling records it as “accepted”.

Read the complete Lean statement

Other mathematical statements in OpenAI’s Lean library

Atlas found these propositions by scanning the text of the project’s Model.lean file. Each name links to its definition, with any associated statement file beside it. This list does not record running Lean to interpret or verify those definitions.

Independent comparisons and proof-verification reports

Does the Lean express the advertised result?

MathVet and cert-machine agree on how much of the advertised result the Lean statements express.

MathVet and Carlos Toledo’s cert-machine independently assessed whether this family’s Lean statements express the whole result OpenAI describes in its catalogue. These are assessments of the family as a whole, not of each paper theorem separately.

MathVet finds that the Lean statements express or imply the whole advertised result (their term: “full”).

Their note: Headline stated; the 'very-ampleness for all admissible even exponents’ result is not (docs). All notions (algebraic bundle on P1xP1, ampleness, Hermitian metric, Griffiths positivity) are bespoke, with no bridge to Mathlib objects.

Definitions the group asks readers to compare with the paper: Bespoke AlgebraicRankTwoBundle (4 charts by polynomial principal opens + regular transition matrices), IsAmple V := ∃ n > 0, ∃ N, ∃ s : Fin N → SymmetricSection V n, GivesClosedProjectiveEmbedding s (a 4-clause custom ‘closed embedding’ predicate), SmoothHermitianMetric on the dual bundle (dualMatrix), StrictlyGriffithsPositive via metricMixedHessian/holomorphicMetricDerivative; a mistake in any of these would silently change what is proved, and the statement is vacuous-prone since it ends in ¬ ∃ h

“full”, in their words: The challenge statements imply the headline claim after unpacking definitions or one routine step.

Their method: An independent, model-assisted, pre-referee reading of each family’s challenge statements against its headline claim under a published rubric (PROTOCOL.md), with its own Comparator runs per challenge.

cert-machine finds that the Lean statements express or imply the whole advertised result (their term: “MATCHES”).

“MATCHES”, in their words: The challenge statements state the headline as OpenAI wrote it.

Their method: Every Comparator challenge re-run on Linux with nanoda switched on, decided by a preregistered rule.

OpenAI’s own note on what its Lean covers

Griffiths' positivity conjecture predicts that every ample holomorphic vector bundle on a smooth complex projective variety admits a smooth Hermitian metric with strictly Griffiths-positive curvature. The formalized counterexample starts with a rank-two algebraic bundle $G$ on $\mathbb P^1\times\mathbb P^1$. Its coordinatewise power pullbacks, tensored with $\mathcal O(1,1)$, are ample for every positive power but admit no such metric for all sufficiently large powers.

The separate very-ampleness result for all admissible even exponents is not included.

AI-drafted comparisons, with no recorded human review

  • Ample bundles without Griffiths-positive metrics QuadricBundles

    Unreviewed AI draft: states a paper’s theorem as the paper does. States the main theorem: an explicit rank-two bundle on the quadric surface whose twisted power pullbacks are ample for every power but carry no Griffiths-positive metric for all large powers. The separate very-ampleness result is not included.

Who ran the proof-verification program?

These groups report running Comparator with the release’s Lean statement files. For a configured theorem, it verifies OpenAI’s separate proof against the exact statement; some files instead configure definitions for comparison by name and type. Each row is the named group’s report. Atlas has not repeated the runs.

These reports do not list the software versions, proof-verification programs, axioms, time or memory in separate fields. Any such details in a report’s prose are reproduced below.

Ample bundles without Griffiths-positive metrics QuadricBundles

Three reports, all at the release’s recorded version.

Reported byTheir wordTheir accountDateOriginal report
cert-machine“CERTIFIED”Re-run through Comparator with the independent nanoda kernel switched on: Lean’s kernel and nanoda both accept OpenAI’s solution.10 October 2026Original report
MathVet“comparator-sandboxed-pass”Re-run through Comparator in a sandboxed virtual machine: accepted.8 October 2026Original report
Neal McBurnett, openai-math-lean-tooling“accepted”Re-run through Comparator with Lean’s kernel: accepted (the check took 372 s; peak memory 6.6 GiB).11 October 2026Original report

What these papers cite in the release, and what cites them

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Papers elsewhere in the release that this family’s papers cite

This family’s papers cite no paper elsewhere in the release.

Papers elsewhere in the release that cite this family’s papers

No paper elsewhere in the release cites this family’s papers.

References outside the release

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What people have said

Commentary on this family by others, dated and credited. It is commentary, not a finding.

  • An unsigned public tier list, the OpenAI Math Tier List, classes it as a counterexample and rates its significance, if it holds up, as “Career-defining publication”. The page says that nothing on it is verified.

    Author not stated. Source

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