UC Irvine, USC receive $2.6 million DARPA grant for AI to drive math breakthroughs

“DARPA-funded research will examine how artificial intelligence can accelerate breakthroughs in mathematical research. Researchers from UC Irvine and USC will study AI tools in real-world research settings, working with expert mathematicians on unsolved problems. The $2.6 million, three-year grant supports a first-of-its-kind effort to measure AI’s impact on mathematical discovery, not just problem-solving accuracy. Irvine, Calif., May 18, 2025 — University of California, Irvine and University of Southern California researchers have received a $2.6 million, three-year grant from the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency to study how artificial intelligence tools can accelerate progress in advanced mathematical research. Led by Jesse Wolfson, UC Irvine professor of mathematics, the project brings together Aravind Asok, professor of mathematics at USC Dornsife College of Letters, Arts and Sciences; and Alexa McLain, a UC Irvine logic and philosophy research fellow, to investigate how emerging AI tools affect mathematical discovery in areas such as number theory, partial differential equations and computational complexity. By examining how work is done at the frontier of mathematics, the study will help determine whether and how AI can speed breakthroughs and change how mathematicians conduct research. “Understanding AI’s ability to accelerate mathematicians’ research isn’t going to look like giving it problems with known answers,” Wolfson said. “It’s whether it helps a working mathematician make progress on a problem that hasn’t been solved yet. That’s what we aim to measure.” Unlike traditional evaluations that test AI on closed problem sets with known answers, this project will examine AI’s impact in active research environments. The team will develop a framework to evaluate how these tools affect productivity on unsolved questions relevant to current mathematical research. Researchers will convene groups of about 20 mathematicians for four-day workshops twice a year over three years, with small teams tackling open problems in a setting monitored by the project team. The project was selected for DARPA’s Exponentiating Mathematics Program, which aims to accelerate progress in pure mathematics by developing AI systems capable of supporting advanced mathematical research. About the University of California, Irvine: Founded in 1965, UC Irvine is a member of the prestigious Association of American Universities and is ranked among the nation’s top 10 public universities by U.S. News & World Report . The campus has produced five Nobel laureates and is known for its academic achievement, premier research, innovation and anteater mascot. Led by Chancellor Howard Gillman, UC Irvine has more than 36,000 students and offers 224 degree programs. It’s located in one of the world’s safest and most economically vibrant communities and is Orange County’s second-largest employer, contributing $7 billion annually to the local economy and $8 billion statewide. For more on UC Irvine, visit www.uci.edu . Media access: Radio programs/stations may, for a fee, use an on-campus studio with a Comrex IP audio codec to interview UC Irvine faculty and experts, subject to availability and university approval. For more UC Irvine news, visit news.uci.edu . Additional resources for journalists may be found at https://news.uci.edu/media-resources .

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