© Stiftung Jugend forscht

August 8, 1900 is considered a special date among mathematicians: at a congress, the mathematical genius David Hilbert presented the 23 most pressing problems in his field and had a lasting influence on further research. In their project, the three students Benedikt Stock, Abhik Pal and Marco David tackled problem number 10. According to Hilbert, the aim was to find out whether a certain type of equation - the so-called Diophantine equation - always has a solution. As early as 1970, a Russian mathematician proved that this was impossible. The three young researchers have now succeeded in reproducing this highly complex and difficult proof by computer - with the help of 'Isabelle', a sophisticated software for mathematical proof.