Cycle Double Cover Conjecture

Precise statement

Conjectures that every bridgeless graph has a collection of cycles covering each edge exactly twice.

The source statement is reproduced for indexing with attribution. Mathematical correctness requires domain-expert or mechanical review. VibeMath has not independently audited statement fidelity, correctness, priority, or novelty.

What AI did

GPT-5.6 Sol Ultra

Running in Ultra mode with 64 parallel subagents, GPT-5.6 Sol produced a claimed proof of the full Cycle Double Cover Conjecture in under an hour. OpenAI released both the proof manuscript and the task prompt; a public Lean formalization was added afterwards.

Provider: OpenAI · Prompt public: unknown · Independence: unknown

Verification boundary

lean checked statement unaudited

Announced by OpenAI researcher Ethan Knight on 10 July 2026, timed to the GPT-5.6 Sol Ultra release. Not peer-reviewed; the Cycle Double Cover Conjecture has a history of claimed proofs later found to have gaps, so mathematicians are treating it cautiously pending independent review. Lean released here: https://github.com/openai/cdc-lean

Correctness: supported · statement fidelity: unaudited · peer review: none

Timeline

1. 2026-07-10

   Scientific American

   VibeMathed reports this item as resolved. VibeMath preserves that report as a source assertion and has not independently authored a plain-language mathematical explanation.

Known method families

argument (source-reported)

Source-reported tools: argument.

Independent: unknown · difference confidence: 0

What remains uncertain

VibeMath has not independently audited the mathematical statement, proof, or novelty claim.

• VibeMath has not independently verified the mathematical claim.
• AI-attempt independence and training-data exposure are unknown unless explicitly documented.
• VibeMath has not independently audited the mathematical statement, proof, or novelty claim.