Holy Toledo! I'm not putting the kid down or anything, but what in the world can a 17-year-old kid really know about string theory or topology? Topology is no joke and you're usually not ready for it until definitely you're an upper division student, better a grad student, with all kinds of math prerequisites under your belt. Same with string theory, I think. I'm sure he's extremely bright, but come on, he can't have the background to have done much. Can he?