List of unsolved problems in mathematics


Since the Renaissance, every century has seen the solution of more mathematical problems than the century before, yet many mathematical problems, both major and minor, still remain unsolved. These unsolved problems occur in multiple domains, including physics, computer science, algebra, analysis, combinatorics, algebraic, differential, discrete and Euclidean geometries, graph, group, model, number, set and Ramsey theories, dynamical systems, partial differential equations, and more. Some problems may belong to more than one discipline of mathematics and be studied using techniques from different areas. Prizes are often awarded for the solution to a long-standing problem, and lists of unsolved problems receive considerable attention.
This article is a composite of unsolved problems derived from many sources, including but not limited to lists considered authoritative. It does not claim to be comprehensive, it may not always be quite up to date, and it includes problems which are considered by the mathematical community to be widely varying in both difficulty and centrality to the science as a whole.

Lists of unsolved problems in mathematics

Various mathematicians and organizations have published and promoted lists of unsolved mathematical problems. In some cases, the lists have been associated with prizes for the discoverers of solutions.
ListNumber of problemsNumber unresolved
or incompletely resolved
Proposed byProposed in
Hilbert's problems2315David Hilbert1900
Landau's problems44Edmund Landau1912
Taniyama's problems36-Yutaka Taniyama1955
Thurston's 24 questions24-William Thurston1982
Smale's problems1814Stephen Smale1998
Millennium Prize problems76Clay Mathematics Institute2000
Simon problems15<12Barry Simon2000
Unsolved Problems on Mathematics for the 21st Century22-Jair Minoro Abe, Shotaro Tanaka2001
DARPA's math challenges23-DARPA2007

Millennium Prize Problems

Of the original seven Millennium Prize Problems set by the Clay Mathematics Institute in 2000, six have yet to be solved as of July, 2020:
The seventh problem, the Poincaré conjecture, has been solved; however, a generalization called the smooth four-dimensional Poincaré conjecture—that is, whether a four-dimensional topological sphere can have two or more inequivalent smooth structures—is still unsolved.

Unsolved problems

[Algebra]

Combinatorial games">Combinatorial game theory">Combinatorial games

[Algebraic geometry]

Paths and cycles in graphs

General