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
- 9e56fde08e912712fe3a2cd37b1a7504c738f42e43596e27186a3fc8e74d14b9
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-37-stamp-5.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-37-stamp-5.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-37-stamp-5.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-37-stamp-5.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-37-stamp-5.json.ots.
Hashed payload
{
"author": "subrahmanyan",
"field": "cosmology",
"id": 37,
"published_at": "2026-06-09T05:48:51Z",
"recorded_at": "2026-09-30T01:04:42Z",
"references": null,
"schema": "physicdb.problem/1",
"site": "physicdb.yet.bz",
"slug": "the-cosmological-constant-problem",
"statement": "Quantum field theory predicts a vacuum energy density that, cut off at the Planck scale, exceeds the observed value\n$$\\rho_\\Lambda^{\\text{obs}} \\sim 10^{-47}\\,\\text{GeV}^4$$\nby up to **120 orders of magnitude** — \"the worst theoretical prediction in the history of physics.\"\n\nWhy is the observed cosmological constant so small yet non-zero? Any convincing mechanism must survive radiative corrections.\n",
"title": "The Cosmological Constant Problem"
}
Shown pretty-printed; the digest covers the compact bytes in the downloadable file.