An Australian teenager has made a ground breaking mathematical discovery, developing a maths theory which could be the key to solving some of greatest unknown mysteries about the universe.
His next challenge will be to finish Year 12 – although he’ll surely find it a breeze.
At 17, Brisbane schoolboy Ivan Velich has created a maths theory which calculates problems faster than a computer and could be crucial to advancing intergalactic travel.
The incredible mind, who is thought to have IQ of around 180, has always been extremely advanced - stunning his parents when he began to speak at just two months of age.
After six months of intensive research with his US working partner, fellow 17-year-old Xuming Liang, they developed the Liang Zelich Theorum which challenges accepted knowledge about mathematics and could be catalyst for crucial developments in our knowledge of the universe.
Ivan often used his time at school to scribble his ideas while he worked on his mates theory
Unfortunately, school inconvenienced Ivan while he researched his groundbreaking theorem, with his six hour school days at Churchie feeling like an obstacle to his work.
‘School did feel like an obstacle for me to my work, Year 12 isn’t as interesting as these theories to me,’ Ivan told Daily Mail Australia.
‘In terms of my report, I do not have time to chase the top grades (as) all my research and student requires too much time and dedication,’ he said.
‘But I love school. I stayed in school, my mother made that decision. I think it was the best because it allowed me to develop as a well-rounded young man and also allowed me to develop a strong empathy with people,’ Ivan said.
He was offered a place at the University of Queensland when he was just 14, but his mother insist the child genius complete high school at a normal pace to spend time with others his age.
Ivan had always been a gifted mathematician, learning about negative numbers when he just three years old after asking his parents 'what happens if I owe you money?'
‘I stayed in school in order to enjoy childhood, you can always accelerate at uni and be what you want to be early through that process, but you don’t have any friends and maturity if you skipped the whole thing.’
‘Being intelligent is a duty as well as a privilege. High IQ usually comes with high emotional intelligence.' Ivan would wake up, run 10km every morning and go to school - working all day to find the wit his mind still ticking over while he ran and scribbling notes during class.
Fortunately, he and Xuming – who he met in an online forum - could share the load, with Ivan working throughout the day and his American counterpart taking over while Ivan slept.
‘Xuming was on a maths forum and I sent him the first message which said: “nice solution but you can improve on it,” said Ivan with a laugh.
‘He was the only person I could find who I connected with mathematically.
' I found out we were both working on the same problem at the same time but he was more geared towards one side of the geometry and I was more geared towards the algebraic and string theory side.’
‘We combined our powers for amazing successes.’
The all-round achiever has also been a state champion swimmer, speaks six languages, is completing his diplama as a pianist and represented Queensland in chess at the Nationals.
He has struggled in the past with teachers who are uncomfortable that their student is more intelligent, but has found a supportive environment at Brisbane’s Anglican Church Grammar School - otherwise know as Churchie.
‘At another school my teachers didn’t like that I had a higher IQ and didn’t support me,’ he told
He has struggled in the past with teachers who are uncomfortable that their student is more intelligent, but has found a supportive environment at Brisbane’s Anglican Church Grammar School - Churchie
While other students around him may be feeling intense pressure with the upcoming final exams, Ivan says he doesn’t understand stress as has such confidence in his abilities.
‘I don’t understand stress, I see everyone stress, when you stress you do worse,’ he said.
The teen also isn’t particularly concerned with his school grades, preferring to focus on his ground breaking research in the field of maths, striving to make breakthrough discoveries about the universe.
At the age of 14, Ivan travelled to England to give a presentation at the Wolfram Mathematica Conference to challenge the concept that pi is equal to 3.14 – suggesting instead that pi is infinite.
There is an incredible future ahead for the young man who has already achieved so much, being statistically smarter than 99.9% of the population.
This year, he was awarded the Queensland Government Inaugural Peter Doherty Award for Excellent in Mathematics and in 2014 he received a golden envelope, containing a certification from the Prime Minister, congratulating him for his achievements in the mathematical field.
He is considering where to further his studies next year, looking at international universities like the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Harvard University and the California University of Technology, as well as a number of Australian universities.
Yet already, before completing high school, academics say he has changed the future of maths.
Culled
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