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Hilbert’s 23 Problems at ICM 2026: Where Are We Now?

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At the 1900 ICM, David Hilbert laid out problems that would become benchmarks of progress in the field. At the 2026 ICM, they will once again take center stage.

By Evelyn Lamb June 18, 2026 Sean McCabe for Simons Foundation; Portrait of David Hilbert by Alamy Art and History Collection “Who among us would not be glad to lift the veil behind which the future lies hidden; to cast a glance at the next advances of our science and at the secrets of its development during future centuries?” Mathematician David Hilbert asked this question on August 8, 1900, while addressing attendees of the second-ever International Congress of Mathematicians. In his address, Hilbert laid out 10 problems that he believed represented the future of mathematics. (In the later p

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