Problems solved at Harvard’s math lounge

Rose Lincoln

Harvard Staff Photographer

March 22, 2017 2 min read

Science Center common room doubles as student think tank and retreat

At almost any time of day, you’ll see students working out problem sets, attacking homework, or chilling with headsets in the Austin and Chilton McDonnell Common Room.

“Many students who work in the math lounge might not know that they are actually at the place the legendary Ahlfors has worked,” says mathematics Professor Oliver Knill. Lars Ahlfors was known for his work in complex analysis. Knill says other famous mathematicians are also linked to the room, including Oscar Zariski, Raoul Bott, and Jean-Pierre Serre.

“Who knows, maybe one day, one of the students working there will develop new ideas shaping the next century of mathematics.”

The lively Austin and Chilton McDonnell Common Room is on the fourth floor of the Science Center.

Reuben Stern ’20 (left), Professor Noam Elkies, and James Hotchkiss ’18 discuss beats in classical music in the fourth floor math lounge at the Science Center.