LSU Freshman Discovers New Pythagorean Theorem Proof While in High School
An LSU freshman is on her way to having her name and work part of mathematics history. Meet Calcea Johnson. While in high school in New Orleans, Johnson discovered a new proof for the Pythagorean Theorem.
LSU student Calcea Johnson and a high school classmate discovered a new proof for the Pythagorean Theorem.
– Katherine Seghers, LSU
“It really started with a math contest by our high school. This was its second year, and it had a bonus question: to create a new proof of the Pythagorean Theorem,” Johnson said. “There was also a monetary incentive, $500, and that was really great for a senior in high school. But $500 is not that much when you start doing all this work. We were the only two in the whole school to come up with a solution to the bonus question."
The work done by Johnson and her classmate, Ne’Kiya Jackson, proved Pythagorean’s Theorem using trigonometry. The 2,000-year-old theorem states that in a right-angled triangle, the square of the hypotenuse side equals the sum of squares of the other two sides.
“It was a lot of trial and error,” Johnson said.
They presented their work at the American Mathematical Society semi-annual conference. Johnson said they are waiting for it to be published in a leading mathematical journal.
“If it is accepted into a journal, which we hope it is, then it would mean that our work has been accepted by the math community, which means it's solid and valid. We've had a lot of mathematicians look over our paper beforehand, and they've all said, ‘The math is good. It's valid. This is a good proof,’” Johnson said.
While the proof is on its way to becoming part of the annals of mathematics, her story has received national and international attention.
– Katherine Seghers, LSU
“I would have never expected that this would go so far, so quickly, because it just really took off,” Johnson said. “I feel really blessed to have this recognition and for people to see that young people, people of color, and women can do these things. So even though I am getting the attention, I feel like it's important to remember the other people who are also doing these things who I represent.”
When she’s not being interviewed about her mathematics discovery, Johnson is an LSU Ogden Honors College student studying environmental engineering.
“LSU just felt so welcoming, and all of the professors seemed like they cared about the students,” Johnson said. “I really, really felt that love, and I felt that there were a lot of resources for students.”
Latest LSU News
- International Team Including Two Pennington Biomedical Faculty Awarded $25 Million for Cancer ResearchSteven B. Heymsfield, M.D., and Justin C. Brown, Ph.D., of the Pennington Biomedical Research Center are part of a team that secured $25 million to take on cachexia, a debilitating condition responsible for up to 30 percent of cancer deaths.
- Pennington, LSU Health New Orleans Part of National Study to Create Personalized-Nutrition AlgorithmPennington Biomedical, in partnership with LSU Health New Orleans, is taking part in a study using machine learning to predict how an individual responds to a given diet, allowing physicians to offer patients personalized nutrition prescriptions.
- LSU Seeks Volunteers for Love the Boot Week Litter CleanupAs a Keep Louisiana Beautiful Affiliate, LSU will be participating in a litter cleanup event in celebration of Love the Boot Week. Love the Boot Week is Louisiana's largest cleanup and beautification event, hosted by Keep Louisiana Beautiful and held in conjunction with Earth Day activities across the planet.
- LSU Holding Spring Greening Day April 25Spring Greening Day is an annual half-day service project to beautify and green the LSU campus. On April 25, 2024, from 11 am - 2 pm we will be planting natives and perennials in front of the Greek Amphitheater. This event is made possible by our partnership with Keep Louisiana Beautiful, Auxiliary Services, RCI, and Toro.
- LSU Professor Receives NSF CAREER Award, Research Addresses Privacy Concerns in VideoconferencingSince the pandemic, our primary means of interacting have evolved to include video conferencing applications, which are broadly used to connect geographically distant people for work, school, and even socially. During these interactions, it’s not uncommon for a user to turn off his or her microphone and/or camera out of concern for privacy. However, microphones and cameras can still leak other kinds of information beyond what is seen and heard through “micro signals,” which are too tiny for humans to recognize but detectable by machines.
- LSU Shreveport Earns ‘Hunger-Free Campus’ Designation from Louisiana Board of RegentsLSU Shreveport has received a hunger-free campus designation from the Louisiana Board of Regents, signifying that the university has mechanisms in place to combat student hunger, including the LSUS Food Pantry, which opened in 2018.