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More on Riemann Hypothesis
Anonymous Coward writes "The NYTimes has a little story on a recent conference at New York University's Courant Institute where mathematicians gathered to discuss potential attacks on the Riemann hypothesis. The Clay Mathematics Institute had announced an award of a million dollars for a proof (or refutation) of the Riemann hypothesis during the millenial celebrations. That million dollars won't be worth much if it takes as long as that Last Theorem by Fermat to solve. There were some interesting observations such as the statistical distribution of the zeros looked just like calculations on the energy levels of large atoms." We did a related story on hard math problems two years ago.
Can someone explain exactly what this is and what it means in very small words?
My understanding of the article is that:
A) You can't predict prime numbers.
B) That guy predicted prime numbers.
C) Alot of money goes to whoever proves how the hell he predicted prime numbers.
Ca)If we know how he predicted them we can crack old codes and make new ones?
Never confuse volume with power.
The mathematician stands a better chance of proving the hypothesis, but the NSA supercomputer stands a better chance of refuting the hyposthesis.
With current technology, it's extremely unlikely that the mathematician would refute the hypothesis or the computer might prove it (although it is possible).
Finally, props goes out to the Courant Institute of Mathematical Sciences. The best, my favorite, and my current graduate school (@ nyu).
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