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Has there ever been a breakthrough that happened on one of the Stack Exchange sites? For example:

Q: Does P = NP?
A: Yes, because [indisputable proof goes here].

Perhaps a question with a community wiki where a few smart people collaborated and output something brilliant.

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  • 6
    blushes well all my posts... :P
    – Tim
    Commented Jun 30, 2015 at 21:09
  • "Has there been a breakthrough on Wikipedia?" Just by asking yourself this question you can see how it feels. While SE is better than Wikipedia, it is not a paradise for research-minded folks.
    – Deer Hunter
    Commented Jun 30, 2015 at 21:37
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    +1 This could make for an awesome series of blog posts telling the story of times SE made a big difference. Not just maths / science, I also remember seeing some high-drama "people helped to overcome injustice" type posts on Travel and Workplace
    – user56reinstatemonica8
    Commented Jul 1, 2015 at 10:04
  • Related (possible duplicate) from 2019: Academic Advancements Made on the Stack Exchange Network
    – V2Blast
    Commented Feb 17, 2023 at 18:54
  • Also somewhat related (but it includes research about SO/SE as well): Academic papers using Stack Exchange data
    – V2Blast
    Commented Feb 17, 2023 at 18:56

1 Answer 1

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None as big as P=NP, but there has been original research on some Stack Exchange sites — threads leading to a solution of an open problem.

Mathematics: Best of MathOverflow

Theoretical computer science: Original proofs generated on the parent site

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