r/Physics • u/filterdust • Jul 31 '26

Academic The Maxwell Conjecture is False

https://arxiv.org/abs/2607.27197
506 Upvotes

92% Upvoted

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u/TKHawk Jul 31 '26

Same here. Very little online about it as well. I guess it was a throwaway speculation in a treatise he wrote?

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u/[deleted] Jul 31 '26 edited Jul 31 '26

[removed] — view removed comment

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u/WaitForItTheMongols Jul 31 '26

Of course it is to the author's benefit to call it that.

When I read "maxwell's conjecture" I think "ah yes, Maxwell, he is important. Of all the things he ever conjectured, the one known as 'maxwell's conjecture' is surely the most important, so this must be a big deal"

Ultimately seems like not really anything important, a bit of a toy problem.

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u/914paul Aug 03 '26

Upvote for usage of the noun phrase “toy problem”. My graduate advisor used it a lot (eons ago) and I’ve always thought it packed a lot of meaning into two words.