Maths Genius Declines Top Prize

[Amadeus]

Maths genius declines top prize

 

Grigori Perelman, the Russian who seems to have solved one of the hardest problems in mathematics, has declined one of the top prizes in maths.The Fields Medals are among the most important prizes for mathematics, and Perelman was to have picked up the award at a ceremony in Madrid. However, the organisers told the BBC that Perelman had declined the prize.

 

In 2002, Perelman claimed to have solved a century-old problem called the Poincare Conjecture.

 

And this is the thing he solved:

In the form originally proposed by Henri Poincaré in 1904 (Poincaré 1953, pp. 486 and 498), Poincaré's conjecture stated that every closed simply connected three-manifold is homeomorphic to the three-sphere. Here, the three-sphere (in a topologist's sense) is simply a generalization of the familiar two-dimensional sphere (i.e., the sphere embedded in usual three-dimensional space and having a two-dimensional surface) to one dimension higher. More colloquially, Poincaré conjectured that the three-sphere is the only possible type of bounded three-dimensional space that contains no holes. This conjecture was subsequently generalized to the conjecture that every compact n-manifold is homotopy-equivalent to the n-sphere if and only if it is homeomorphic to the n-sphere. The generalized statement is now known as the Poincaré conjecture, and it reduces to the original conjecture for n = 3.

I mean - I could have solved that if I wanted to - but I don't at the moment

[Charles Flynn]

Should be in the A level syllabus.

[Ripsaw]

In the form originally proposed by Henri Poincaré in 1904 (Poincaré 1953, pp. 486 and 498), Poincaré's conjecture stated that every closed simply connected three-manifold is homeomorphic to the three-sphere. Here, the three-sphere (in a topologist's sense) is simply a generalization of the familiar two-dimensional sphere (i.e., the sphere embedded in usual three-dimensional space and having a two-dimensional surface) to one dimension higher. More colloquially, Poincaré conjectured that the three-sphere is the only possible type of bounded three-dimensional space that contains no holes. This conjecture was subsequently generalized to the conjecture that every compact n-manifold is homotopy-equivalent to the n-sphere if and only if it is homeomorphic to the n-sphere. The generalized statement is now known as the Poincaré conjecture, and it reduces to the original conjecture for n = 3.

I mean - I could have solved that if I wanted to - but I don't at the moment

Isn't he just explaining scientificly why a sphere is a 3D shape yet only has 2 attributes?

[Chinahand]

Isn't he just explaining scientificly why a sphere is a 3D shape yet only has 2 attributes?

 

No

[Tempus Fugit]

doesn't add up

[Ripsaw]

Isn't he just explaining scientificly why a sphere is a 3D shape yet only has 2 attributes?

No

Bugger

[lectro]

It's a page turner...

 

http://www.intlpress.com/AJM/p/2006/10_2/A...0-2-165-492.pdf

 

I'm always amazed at the pure genius of some people out there. The last sentence (and probably the only one I understood) after 322 pages ends quite modestly....

 

"Therefore we have completed the proof of the theorem."

[Lonan3]

It's a page turner...

 

http://www.intlpress.com/AJM/p/2006/10_2/A...0-2-165-492.pdf

 

I'm always amazed at the pure genius of some people out there.

 

I didn't have time to read it right to the end - so, whodunnit?

[Cliff Hazard]

 

I didn't have time to read it right to the end - so, whodunnit?

 

Pythagoras

 

with the abacus

[Tempus Fugit]

 

I didn't have time to read it right to the end - so, whodunnit?

 

Pythagoras

 

with the abacus

 

in the pyramid

[Amadeus]

A picture of the genius in question:

 

 

I somehow thought he would look something like that - just like my old maths teacher..

 

Looks as if he's not gonna accept his prize, though:

 

Russian mathematics genius shuns the spotlight

 

The world of mathematics is in uproar over rumours that its most prestigious prize will be turned down next week by one of its brightest stars.

 

The Fields Medal, the equivalent of a Nobel Prize in mathematics, is awarded every four years to young mathematicians who have made the biggest impact in their fields. It is due to be presented by the King of Spain in a ceremony in Madrid on Tuesday 22 August.

 

But Gregori Perelman, who has been widely tipped to receive it, has resigned his post at the Steklov Institute of Mathematics in St Petersburg, Russia, and gone to ground. “Nobody knows where he is,” says Marcus du Sautoy, a mathematician at Oxford University in the UK. Perelman is thought to have become disillusioned with mathematics and disassociated himself from the field.