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Hacker News
5/10

Modulo Mentor

An interactive number theory tutor that walks you through Diophantine equation proofs step-by-step, explains the 'why' behind each move, and ties simple problems to deeper structures like the Langlands program.

Target user

Undergraduate math students and serious self-learners tackling number theory for the first time

Features
  • Step-by-step proof walkthroughs with explanatory dialogue at each line, not just the answer
  • 'Why does this matter' sidebars linking each theorem to bigger ideas (unique factorization → Langlands)
  • Adaptive problem sets that scale from Ax=B up to f(x)=Ny
  • Visualizations of modular arithmetic, the Euclidean algorithm, and the Chinese Remainder Theorem
Why now

Number theory is resurging thanks to post-quantum cryptography and ML foundations, but high-quality interactive resources that explain the 'why' rather than just the steps remain rare — and HN readers clearly want them (27 points, 9 comments).

Signals · overall 5/10
Demand
4/10

HN post actually shows 39 points / 12 comments (the user's 27/9 figure was conservative), with substantive engagement from working mathematicians/grad students — but audience is narrow: serious number-theory self-learners is a small slice of the math-student market.Why study Diophantine equations? - Hacker News

Whitespace
6/10

Adjacent tools exist (Brilliant, AoPS number theory course, Khanmigo, a toy Streamlit Diophantine visualizer, Axiom Academy activity), but none combine step-by-step proof coaching with the 'why'/Langlands framing — a clear but small whitespace.Diophantine equations visualizer (Streamlit toy)Art of Problem Solving: Introduction to Number Theory

Monetization
3/10

Math-student niche is famously price-sensitive; comparable tools (Brilliant ~$13-25/mo, AoPS Online school ~$50+/mo, generic AI tutors ~$10/mo) monetize at modest rates, and a hyper-specialized number-theory tutor has a small TAM cap.Brilliant Pricing & PlansKhanmigo for learners (Khan Academy)

Longevity
7/10

Number theory is foundational and gets a structural tailwind from post-quantum cryptography, ML theory, and the Langlands program — these fundamentals don't churn with tooling cycles.

Feasibility
4/10

LLM-driven proof walkthroughs are buildable but need careful verification scaffolding; tying explanations to Langlands-level structure requires rare domain expertise to author the content well, raising content-creation cost above a weekend build.

Why study Diophantine equations? · 27 points · 9 commentsHacker News · 2026-07-12 (12d ago)