ELI5: Explain Like I'm 5

Birch and Swinnerton-Dyer conjecture

Okay kiddo, have you ever seen a really big math problem that no one can solve? That's what the birch and swinnerton-dyer conjecture is. It's like trying to solve a really hard puzzle.

The birch and swinnerton-dyer conjecture is a question in math that asks whether we can find a way to explain the patterns that we see in a certain kind of math problem called an elliptic curve. Think of an elliptic curve as a squiggly line that goes around, up, and down on a graph. Math people try to figure out how the curve is made and how it behaves.

Now, scientists want to try to understand how these curves work and they have a lot of different theories about it. They think that if they can solve the birch and swinnerton-dyer conjecture, they'll be able to understand these elliptic curves better and be able to solve other math problems too.

But it's not going to be easy. It's like trying to put together a really hard puzzle with lots of pieces. Some people have made progress on solving this puzzle, but no one has quite figured it out yet.

In summary, the birch and swinnerton-dyer conjecture is a really tricky math problem about understanding the patterns of an elliptic curve, and it's like trying to solve a really hard puzzle.