PRIMES: Noah Golowich's Story

 

When I started the PRIMES program, I was a little unsure of how I would be able to do mathematical research given that I was only in high school. Even though our research started a bit slowly, I felt like I was learning each week about the process. With the help of Laszlo Lovasz, our mentor, my partner and I began to understand which techniques worked and which did not. Soon enough, we began proving more interesting results.

I have been interested in math from a young age and have become more interested through math competitions. PRIMES offered me different types of math problems, which I have thoroughly enjoyed. In PRIMES, the focus is neither on solving problems that can be done within a few hours, as in a math competition, nor on learning previously known results, as in a math course. Instead, I have found it necessary to work on problems over the course of several weeks and to persevere. In fact, one idea for proving a result came to me while taking the Biology MCAS (which made the MCAS that day, surprisingly, a positive experience).

Pursuing mathematical research can be quite challenging, especially when things appear so complicated that it seems impossible to make any progress. However, Professor Jacob Fox selected an appropriate and intriguing problem, and our mentor Laszlo Lovasz taught us the importance of being organized and trying to look at things in a clear way. With their guidance, my partner and I were able to make progress. When we finally proved the result that was our original goal, it was very rewarding. Furthermore, our method of solution inspired new directions of research that became the core of our project. I am very thankful to the PRIMES program and all the PRIMES staff for providing me with this great opportunity.

 

Noah Golowich, together with Kavish Gandhi, worked on the project Inequalities and partition regularity of linear homogenous equations under the mentorship of Laszlo Lovasz.

Email us: primes@math.mit.edu