At just 17 years old, homeschooled Bahamian student Hannah Cairo has achieved what many seasoned mathematicians could not — disproving a long-standing theory in advanced mathematics.
Cairo has produced a counterexample to the Mizohata–Takeuchi conjecture, a problem in harmonic analysis that has puzzled researchers for four decades. The conjecture dealt with the complex behavior of waves on curved surfaces, and while many attempted to prove it, none had succeeded. Cairo went in a different direction — rather than proving it, she demonstrated it was wrong.
Her breakthrough has stunned the mathematics community, not only for its depth but also for her age and unconventional academic path. Without a high school diploma or a college degree, Cairo is now heading straight into a PhD program, bypassing traditional education milestones entirely.
Mathematics has seen its share of prodigies, but Cairo’s accomplishment is exceptionally rare — reshaping a field before even setting foot into a university classroom.
Her work serves as a reminder that in science and mathematics, fresh perspectives can come from anywhere — and sometimes, the next big breakthrough arrives from the mind of someone who hasn’t yet celebrated their 18th birthday.