Who Is Terence Tao and What Is the Purpose of His Blog?

Updated

Terence Tao is the mathematician who writes What's new, a blog whose stated purpose is to share "updates on my research and expository papers, discussion of open problems, and other maths-related topics." If you are looking for a primary source on active mathematical research written for a mathematically literate audience, this is the site; if you want news, teaching material, or a general-audience math feed, it is not organized that way.

Who writes it

The blog is authored by Terence Tao, and the site identifies him as the writer in its own description. Posts are signed "by Terence Tao," and the blog also carries guest posts by other mathematicians, which are labeled as such. One example from the page evidence is a guest post by Diego Córdoba and Luis Martínez-Zoroa on classical solutions and singularity formation in incompressible fluids; another is a guest post by Jennifer Taback on what powerful AI models mean for mathematicians.

A recurring editorial note appears on guest posts: the text was initially written in a different file format and converted using AI. That note is attributed to Tao and is worth knowing if you are citing a post, since it tells you the prose passed through a conversion step.

What the blog is for

The site's own description sets three purposes:

  • Research updates — announcements and discussion of Tao's own work.
  • Expository papers — explanations of mathematical material, often written to make a topic accessible to readers with the right background.
  • Open problems and other maths-related topics — discussion of unsolved questions and adjacent subjects.

The content is not limited to one field. The page evidence shows posts tagged math.AP (analysis of PDEs) and math.GM (general mathematics), alongside an opinion post and course notes. Topics visible in the headings include:

Post Type
On classical solutions and singularity formation in incompressible fluids Expository, guest post, tagged Euler and Navier–Stokes equations
What does the advent of powerful AI models mean for mathematicians like me? Guest blog, opinion
AIM: an invitation to explore mathematics together Announcement/invitation
247A, Notes 2: The Hardy–Littlewood maximal function and applications Course notes
arXiv updates its rate limiting policy Community/policy note

That mix is the point: the blog functions as a working mathematician's public notebook and noticeboard, not a single-topic column.

What else is on the site

Beyond the post stream, the site lists standing sections: Home, About, Career advice, On writing, Books, and a link to subscribe to the feed. These are stable pages rather than posts, and they cover things a reader might otherwise have to hunt for — background on the author, advice aimed at people building a mathematical career, notes on writing, and book information.

How to judge whether it fits your need

Use the blog if you want research-level or near-research-level mathematics explained by an active researcher, including pointers to open problems and reactions to developments in the field. Expect posts that assume mathematical maturity; the PDE post, for instance, moves directly into the Cauchy problem, local existence, and the distinction between global existence and finite-time blow-up.

Be careful about two things when reading:

  • Guest posts are not all by Tao. Check the byline and the bracketed note at the top before attributing a view to him.
  • Opinion posts are opinion. The AI-and-mathematicians post is filed under opinion and guest blog, so treat it as a contributed argument rather than a research result.

The site's description mentions subscribing to the feed, but the available material does not specify pricing or whether any part of the site requires an account, so do not assume either way from the presence of a subscribe link.