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Proof Claimed for Deep Connection Between Prime Numbers

Posted September 11, 2012 9:43 AM

From Scientific American:

The usually quiet world of mathematics is abuzz with a claim that one of the most important problems in number theory has been solved. Mathematician Shinichi Mochizuki of Kyoto University in Japan has released a 500-page proof of the abc conjecture, which proposes a relationship between whole numbers - a 'Diophantine' problem.

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Guru

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#1

Re: Proof Claimed for Deep Connection Between Prime Numbers

09/11/2012 11:15 AM

SciAm reprinted the piece from this article in Nature. SciAm badly mangled the math in their version. The equations in SciAm's version are complete nonsense. Strongly recommended that you read Nature's (correct) version instead.

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#2
In reply to #1

Re: Proof Claimed for Deep Connection Between Prime Numbers

09/12/2012 2:41 AM

I saw the bad typography, but don't know if the problems were really deeper than that.

Any updates on the Goldbach Conjecture???

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#3
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Re: Proof Claimed for Deep Connection Between Prime Numbers

09/12/2012 2:50 AM

Weak or strong?

Some progress evidently, on Goldbach's Weak Conjecture here. None on the GSC, sadly.

SciAm's link? SciAm merely copied and pasted Nature's article verbatim onto their own site whilst losing all the formatting enroute, then failed to proofread the piece before posting. Typical SciAm fare these days.

The only thing worth noting from SciAm's article is their link to Ulam Spirals. This part was excerpted from Martin Gardner's Mathematical Recreations column from back in the day when SciAm was a Real science rag. Here's a link to more on Ulam Spirals.

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#4
In reply to #3

Re: Proof Claimed for Deep Connection Between Prime Numbers

09/12/2012 3:08 AM

Now I gotta go look for two Goldbach Conjectures? Goes to show how outdated I am, I suppose. (I'm thinking about every even number being the sum of two primes.)

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#5
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Re: Proof Claimed for Deep Connection Between Prime Numbers

09/12/2012 3:36 AM

GWC specifies three primes as the limiting case as the sums grow toward infinity. Less clear is the GWC's application to smaller sums and the objective is to find a single unifying principle for them all.

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