Famed mathematician claims proof of 160-year-old Riemann hypothesis

[Judi Lynn]

21 September 2018

By Gilead Amit​

One of the most important unsolved problems in mathematics may have been solved, retired mathematician Michael Atiyah is set to claim on Monday. In a talk at the Heidelberg Laureate Forum in Germany, Atiyah will present what he refers to as a “simple proof” of the Riemann hypothesis, a problem which has eluded mathematicians for almost 160 years.

Born in 1929, Atiyah is one of the UK’s most eminent mathematical figures, having received the two awards often referred to as the Nobel prizes of mathematics, the Fields medal and the Abel Prize. He also, at various times, served as president of the London Mathematical Society, the Royal Society and the Royal Society of Edinburgh.

If a solution to the Riemann hypothesis is confirmed, it would be big news. Among other things, the hypothesis is intimately connected to the distribution of prime numbers, those indivisible by any whole number other than themselves and one. If the hypothesis is proven to be correct, mathematicians would be armed with a map to the location of all such prime numbers, a breakthrough with far-reaching repercussions in the field.

As one of the six unsolved Clay Millennium Problems, any solution would also be eligible for a $1 million prize. The prestige has tempted many mathematicians over the years, none of which has yet been awarded the prize.

More:
https://www.newscientist.com/article/2180406-famed-mathematician-claims-proof-of-160-year-old-riemann-hypothesis/?cmpid=ILC|NSNS|2018_webpush&utm_medium=ILC&utm_source=NSNS&utm_campaign=webpush-Roost-reimann

[lapfog_1]

1. What are the implications (if any) on current cyptology

especially those based on RSA algorithms or similar algorithms?

https://simple.wikipedia.org/wiki/RSA_algorithm

[getting old in mke]

2. Probably nothing

https://math.stackexchange.com/questions/69540/would-a-proof-to-the-riemann-hypothesis-affect-security

But I'll be happy to see a proof!

[lapfog_1]

4. Thanks for the link

that was my guess as well... but if the proof also provides a fast way to factor products of large prime numbers... oops.

My real concern is that quantum computing research yields an "affordable" and "effective" means to cracking these sorts of encryption techniques... and then we are off to the races to protect our bank accounts, power grids, etc.

And I think they aren't that far away... maybe only 5 years or 10 years away now.

[Staph]

3. If he's solved it, he is doubly amazing!

From an article in Slate in 2003 titled "Is Math A Young Man's Game?": (http://www.slate.com/articles/life/do_the_math/2003/05/is_math_a_young_mans_game.html):

The British number theorist G.H. Hardy, in A Mathematician's Apology, one of the most widely read books about the nature and practice of mathematics, famously wrote: "No mathematician should ever allow himself to forget that mathematics, more than any other art or science, is a young man's game."

This not-so-young man was 88 or 89 when he created his solution.

[struggle4progress]

5. It would have been nice to see the proof first. All opinion must be deferred