cat _posts/2026-09-07-unused-assumptions-mathlib-theorems-whose-typeclass-setting-is-stronger-than-their-proof.md
unused-assumptions: Mathlib theorems whose typeclass setting is stronger than their proof
carlok/unused-assumptions is a
new public repository (visible since Sep 4; v1.0–v1.2 tagged Sep 6, archived at
doi:10.5281/zenodo.22549525):
theorems in Mathlib whose stated algebraic setting is stronger than their own
proof requires. The method is one sentence — take a theorem, replace one binder
with a weaker class, keep the proof byte for byte, compile it alone — and every
row of data/survivors.jsonl carries what is needed to put the claim back in
front of the compiler. A verifier rechecks each row at the Mathlib revision the
manifest names, refuses to run against a different one, and requires
#print axioms to rest on nothing beyond propext, Classical.choice and
Quot.sound. Re-verifying the 36 candidate patches against a later Mathlib kept
the 33 that still hold,
and the README now answers the prior-art question explicitly rather than leaving
it to the reader.