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At the end of a research program run by the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, a professor gave Jonathan Du a list of unanswered questions in mathematics. On that list was a query related to the complexities of factorization, prompting the Los Altos High School student to start investigating the topic.
While aspects of factorization, or the process of breaking down a number or other mathematical object into indivisible components, have long been studied, Du looked into a new idea called the unrestricted finite factorization property. His research earned him ninth place – and $50,000 – in the Regeneron Science Talent Search, a national science and math competition.
“[My project] opens up this whole new line of inquiry that extends what people in mathematics have been doing and allows us to understand factorizations more fundamentally,” Du told the Voice.
Before being announced as a top-10 winner, Du was one of 40 students who was chosen from more than 2,000 entries to participate in a rigorous judging process that included a panel interview with scientists and a public exhibition of his project in Washington, D.C.
“Students who compete and participate in these STEM competitions often come away with a stronger STEM identity, stronger confidence in STEM [and] a sense of belonging,” said Potoula Stavropoulos, Regeneron’s senior director of social impact. “Ultimately, that’s what we’re trying to affect, is the pipeline of students going into STEM careers.”
After graduating high school, Du plans to attend college to study mathematics or a related subject, he said, adding that the money he earned from the competition will be used for his higher education. He first heard about Regeneron’s contest from friends who were also working on projects and thought it would be a good opportunity to get some more eyes on his research.
“A big part of our research is being able to give mathematicians tools to construct examples of number systems that, for example, have elements with no factorizations, as well as elements with infinitely many or finitely many factorizations,” said Du, who plans to publish a research paper on his work.
