What seems to be a turned in math homework with a new mathematical theory – discovered by accident – had earned the 16-year-old Tamar Barabi a geometric theory tagged after her name, for proving later a relationship between lines and radii. According to the “Three Radii Theorem” or “Tamar’s Theorem,” if three or more equal lines leave a single point and reach the boundary of a circle, the point is the center of the circle and the lines are its radii.
This geometric theory was supported by her dad who is a math teacher, but she pulled off creating three proofs, a series of conclusions and sample exercises on her own to support the theory. The support was sent to math lecturers around the world.
Ron Livne, a professor at the Einstein School of Mathematics at Hebrew University in Jerusalem, said, “Tamar deserves praise for finding a new twist of stating that a circle has only one center and only one radius.”
Ofer Grossman from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology praised the Israeli teen, “It’s cool to see how Tamar’s theorem can give elegant proofs for other important theorems.”
However, Barabi expressed that it’s unlikely that math will be her profession, as she is committed to the theater arts. She studies acting, plays the piano and the guitar, sings, and dances.
