Timestamp proof
This problem was hashed with SHA-256 and the digest was committed to the Bitcoin blockchain through OpenTimestamps. The proof shows the exact text below existed no later than the anchoring block. Only the digest ever left PubPhys.
- Status
- Anchored in Bitcoin
- Bitcoin block
- #969,239
- Block time
- 2026-09-30 02:33 UTC
- Recorded
- 2026-09-30 01:04 UTC
- SHA-256
- c43c781dca81ff7d42fd8ba9d7b7c5984393ec5a3c12f0693cfdbefc1ae5f805
Verify it
1. Here, in one click
Checks the stored proof against the Bitcoin blockchain and confirms it covers the payload below. To check files you downloaded, use Verify a timestamp.
2. On opentimestamps.org (independent of PubPhys)
- Download the payload (.json) and the proof (.ots) above.
- Open opentimestamps.org and drop pubphys-problem-45-stamp-13.json.ots onto Drop here a file to stamp or an .ots proof file to verify in the Stamp & Verify section.
- Then drop pubphys-problem-45-stamp-13.json onto Drop here the stamped file.
- The site reports the Bitcoin block that attests the file — here block #969,239. Your file never leaves the browser; only its hash is compared.
3. From the command line
With both files in one folder, run the reference Python client (pip install opentimestamps-client) or the Ruby gem (gem install opentimestamps, 0.4 or newer):
ots verify pubphys-problem-45-stamp-13.json.ots
The Ruby gem checks the block against a public block explorer. The Python client checks it only against your own Bitcoin Core node; without one, run ots --no-bitcoin verify pubphys-problem-45-stamp-13.json.ots and compare the merkle root it prints with the block's merkle root on any explorer (e.g. block 969239).
Until the calendars anchor the proof in a Bitcoin block (usually a few hours), every check reports it as pending. Once PubPhys shows a block number, download the proof again, or complete your copy with ots upgrade pubphys-problem-45-stamp-13.json.ots.
Hashed payload
{
"author": "grigori_p",
"field": "particle_physics",
"id": 45,
"published_at": "2026-07-02T05:48:51Z",
"recorded_at": "2026-09-30T01:04:42Z",
"references": null,
"schema": "physicdb.problem/1",
"site": "physicdb.yet.bz",
"slug": "the-hierarchy-problem",
"statement": "Radiative corrections to the Higgs mass scale quadratically with the cutoff,\n$$\\delta m_H^2 \\sim \\frac{\\Lambda^2}{16\\pi^2},$$\nso keeping $m_H \\approx 125\\,\\text{GeV}$ against a Planck-scale cutoff requires enormous fine-tuning.\n\nWhy is the electroweak scale so far below the Planck scale? Supersymmetry and compositeness were expected to help, but the LHC has found no new states so far.\n",
"title": "The Hierarchy Problem"
}
Shown pretty-printed; the digest covers the compact bytes in the downloadable file.