{
  "schema_version": 1,
  "id": "evt-1996-robbins-eqp",
  "slug": "robbins-conjecture-eqp",
  "title": {
    "en": "EQP finds a proof resolving the Robbins conjecture",
    "zh-CN": "EQP 找到解决 Robbins 猜想的证明"
  },
  "dates": {
    "event": "1996-10-10",
    "first_public_claim": "1996-10-10",
    "paper_release": null,
    "artifact_release": "1996-10-10",
    "independently_verified": null,
    "added_to_chronicle": "2026-09-15",
    "last_updated": "2026-09-15"
  },
  "event_types": [
    "proof",
    "discovery",
    "system"
  ],
  "significance": {
    "tier": "H2",
    "rationale": {
      "en": "EQP's Robbins-algebra proof is a landmark case in which an automated theorem prover produced the key proof of a long-standing open algebraic question, demonstrating ATP as a tool for new mathematical results rather than only benchmark reproving.",
      "zh-CN": "EQP 对 Robbins algebra 的证明是自动定理证明器解决长期开放代数问题的标志性案例，展示 ATP 不仅可以重新证明已知命题，也能参与获得新的数学结果。"
    }
  },
  "mathematical_novelty": {
    "type": "new_proof"
  },
  "interfaces": [
    "formal",
    "symbolic"
  ],
  "claim": {
    "en": "On 10 October 1996, William McCune's EQP found a proof showing that Robbins algebras are Boolean; the proof was subsequently checked with the Otter theorem prover and studied by mathematicians.",
    "zh-CN": "1996 年 10 月 10 日，William McCune 的 EQP 找到证明 Robbins algebra 为 Boolean algebra 的证明；随后该证明由 Otter 定理证明器检查并由数学家研究。"
  },
  "summary": {
    "en": "The automated search produced a compact equational derivation in a problem that had resisted prior human and machine efforts for decades.",
    "zh-CN": "自动搜索在一个数十年未解决、长期接受人类与机器尝试的问题上产生了紧凑的等式推导。"
  },
  "why_it_matters": {
    "en": "The event supplied early evidence that automated theorem proving could contribute directly to unresolved mathematics, a central ambition of modern AI4Math.",
    "zh-CN": "该事件较早证明自动定理证明能够直接参与未解决数学问题，这也是现代 AI4Math 的核心目标之一。"
  },
  "ai_role": {
    "level": "ai_primary_human_verified",
    "description": {
      "en": "EQP autonomously searched for and found the formal proof; separate automated checking and human mathematical inspection followed.",
      "zh-CN": "EQP 自主搜索并找到形式证明；之后进行了独立的自动检查与人类数学审阅。"
    }
  },
  "human_contribution": {
    "description": {
      "en": "William McCune developed the prover and search setup; mathematicians contextualized, simplified and communicated the machine-found proof.",
      "zh-CN": "William McCune 开发证明器与搜索设置；数学家对机器找到的证明进行解释、化简与传播。"
    }
  },
  "systems": [
    "eqp",
    "otter"
  ],
  "organizations": [
    "argonne-national-laboratory"
  ],
  "people": [
    "william-mccune"
  ],
  "problems": [
    "robbins-conjecture"
  ],
  "methods": [
    "equational-theorem-proving",
    "automated-proof-search"
  ],
  "verification": {
    "evidence_level": "E3",
    "status": "paper_released",
    "formal_assurance": "machine_checked",
    "history": [
      {
        "date": "1996-10-10",
        "status": "paper_released",
        "evidence_level": "E3",
        "note": {
          "en": "The Argonne technical report records the EQP proof and subsequent Otter verification; machine checking does not convert Chronicle into an independent mathematical-priority arbiter.",
          "zh-CN": "Argonne 技术报告记录了 EQP 证明及后续 Otter 检查；machine checking 不意味着 Chronicle 自行裁决历史优先权。"
        }
      }
    ]
  },
  "sources": [
    {
      "id": "argonne-robbins-eqp-report",
      "tier": "S1",
      "type": "paper",
      "title": "Solution of the Robbins Problem",
      "url": "https://ftp.mcs.anl.gov/pub/tech_reports/reports/P642.pdf",
      "primary": true,
      "published_date": null,
      "accessed_at": "2026-09-15"
    }
  ],
  "artifacts": [
    {
      "id": "robbins-eqp-proof-record",
      "kind": "proof",
      "title": "EQP Robbins proof record in the Argonne report",
      "url": "https://ftp.mcs.anl.gov/pub/tech_reports/reports/P642.pdf"
    }
  ],
  "relationships": {
    "predecessors": [],
    "successors": [],
    "related": []
  },
  "timeline": {
    "featured": true,
    "significance": "primary"
  },
  "tags": [
    "robbins-conjecture",
    "eqp",
    "automated-theorem-proving",
    "machine-found-proof"
  ],
  "editorial": {
    "created_at": "2026-09-15",
    "last_reviewed": "2026-09-15",
    "reviewers": [
      "Charlie-Wang-03"
    ]
  },
  "corrections": []
}