Polymath8b: Collaborative Mathematics Achieves Prime Gap Bound H₁ ≤ 246 — E8 Intelligence Research

FINDING: Polymath projects demonstrate massively collaborative mathematics; the flagship result is the bounded-gaps-between-primes project reducing Zhang's bound to H₁ ≤ 246. | MATH: H_m := liminfn→∞(pₙ₊ₘ − p_n); twin prime conjecture ⟺ H₁ = 2; Polymath8b achieved H₁ ≤ 246 (unconditional), H₁ ≤ 6 under Elliott–Halberstam. | CONNECTION: None to φ-ratios (0.382/0.618/1.618), base-60, or crystallographic symmetry. The relevant structure is sieve-theoretic (GPY, Maynard–Tao multidimensional sieve), not geometric-harmonic. | DEPTH: 7 FINDING: Terence Tao's framing of AI + Polymath as a shift in mathematical methodology — distributed, experimental, verification-heavy workflows. | MATH: No new equations; meta-mathematical claim that proof search and conjecture generation can be parallelized and machine-assisted. | CONNECTION: None. | DEPTH: 3 FINDING: "The Golden Square" (Polymath Project S03E01) — title contains "Golden" but is a media/panel episode, not a mathematical result. | MATH Author: Andrew Stewart Caldin, Independent Researcher, UK. Part of the E8 Intelligence Research series. Platform: e8intelligence.com