Has The Poincare Conjecture Been Solved?

Zack Coburn writes "An article in the Boston Globe alludes to the Poincare Conjecture being solved, possibly. For those who are unfamiliar with the conjecture, the article gives a brief description: "To solve it, one would have to prove something that no one seriously doubts: that, just as there is only one way to bend a two-dimensional plane into a shape without holes -- the sphere -- there is likewise only one way to bend three-dimensional space into a shape that has no holes. Though abstract, the conjecture has powerful practical implications: Solve it and you may be able to describe the shape of the universe." Apparently Grigory Perelman may have proved it, which would mean a $1 million award from the Clay Mathematics Institute." We've previously discussed other possible Poincare proofs.

Comments

Christina Ricci Flow

[Anonymous Coward]

Perelman used a method called Ricci flow

Now, I'm as much a fan of Christina Ricci as the next guy, but knowing about her flow is beyond the limits of what I'd like to know about her. I do wonder, however, how that guy from "Beauty and the Beast" is involved.

Re:Has the Poincare Conjecture Been Solved?

[kalidasa]

Somebody with mod points, please, I beg you, mod parent +1 funny. ROTFL.