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The Poincaré Conjecture has Been Proved

Posted by chrisd on from the np-is-the-problem-for-me dept.

Martin Dunwoody, a famous mathematician who works in the field of topology has a preprint that provides a proof of the Poincaré conjecture. This was one of the seven Clay Mathematics Institute millenium prize problems (reported on Slashdot here). The solution to each of the problems carries a monetary reward of 1 million dollars. However there are a number of conditions that still need to be met for the prize to be awarded in the case of the Poincaré conjecture.

4 of 299 comments (clear)

  1. Re:What's the problem? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Informative

    You show great skill at cut & pasting from http://www.claymath.org/prizeproblems/poincare.htm : )

    Just kidding. Go ahead, enjoy the cut & paste karma.

  2. proof has been announced by call+-151 · · Score: 5, Insightful
    Normally it take a while for a proof to be verified- a better title would be `A Proof has been announced for the Poincare Conjecture.' The Poincare conjecture has attracted a great deal of attention and lots of remarkable, deep work, but it has also had its fair share of proofs which fell apart under serious scrutiny. Most notably, Colin Rourke and a co-author I can't remember had claimed a proof of the Poincare conjecture in 1987 which took something like a year-plus before the mistakes were found, and took a great deal of energy by a number of mathematicians to find the errors.

    That being said, Martin Dunwoody is a remarkable researcher and this work relies on important, ground-breaking work of Abby Thompson and Hyam Rubenstein, and this preprint sounds very promising!

    --
    It's psychosomatic. You need a lobotomy. I'll get a saw.
  3. Statement of conjecture on wolfram incorrect? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Informative

    Surely it should read:

    The conjecture that every *compact* simply connected 3-manifold is homeomorphic to the 3-sphere,

    Normal euclidean space R^3 is simply connected,
    and definitely NOT homeomorphic to to the
    3-sphere !!

    (That they are not homeomorphic can be proved by
    comparing their homotopy or homology groups).

    Liam.

  4. Re:Nah by Cowculator · · Score: 5, Funny

    Be careful how you phrase that last sentence - your carefree use of the word "obvious" in reference to math calls to mind an old joke:

    Two mathematicians were talking one day about some recent work they'd done. One described a proof to the other but quickly glossed over a complicated step. The second one said, "Wait a minute - you didn't prove your last assertion." The reply: "It's obvious."

    So the second mathematician wordlessly took a piece of chalk, went to the nearby blackboard, and began to fill it with long statements full of obscure symbols. Nearly half an hour later, he stopped writing, turned around, and said, "You're right. It is obvious."