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Banker Offers $1M To Solve Beal Conjecture

Posted by timothy on from the it's-no-fermat's-but-hey dept.

oxide7 writes "A Texas banker with a knack for numbers has offered $1 million for anyone who can solve a complex math equation that has stumped mathematicians since the 1980s. The Beal Conjecture states that the only solutions to the equation A^x + B^y = C^z, when A, B and C are positive integers, and x, y and z are positive integers greater than two, are those in which A, B and C have a common factor. Like most number theories, it's "easy to say but extremely difficult to prove.""

8 of 216 comments (clear)

  1. Have solution. Alas, subject line = too small by kanweg · · Score: 5, Funny

    Sorry, but I promise you that the solution was very elegant.

    Bert

    1. Re:Have solution. Alas, subject line = too small by vuke69 · · Score: 4, Funny

      I suspect you are correct, but a proof remains elusive.

      --
      Time is an illusion. Lunchtime doubly so. ~ Douglas Adams
  2. Give a man a gun by sl4shd0rk · · Score: 4, Funny

    Give a man a gun, he can rob a bank
    Give a banker an algorithm, he can rob the world.

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    Join the Slashcott! Feb 10 thru Feb 17!
  3. Too big to solve by Tablizer · · Score: 5, Funny

    Oh great, yet another bank that wants a bealout.

    --
    Table-ized A.I.
  4. Re:Fermat? by zrbyte · · Score: 4, Funny

    Huh. For a second there my brain thought: "FTL? Faster Than Light (travel)? WTF!"

  5. Re:What's in it for him? by Captain+Spam · · Score: 5, Funny

    So, being quite cynical about such things, in what way would a proof of this conjecture allow him to make more money?

    Philanthropy and advancing science are good, but my first thoughts is that if someone can prove this he stands to make massive amounts of money.

    You know the old jokes about rich people paying bums on the street to fight for their own amusement? Well, extend that to mathematicians.

    --
    Demanding constant attention will only lead to attention.
  6. Re:Fermat? by formfeed · · Score: 5, Funny

    Huh. For a second there my brain thought: "FTL? Faster Than Light (travel)? WTF!"

    WTF? World Taekwondo Federation?

  7. Re:Fermat? by sFurbo · · Score: 4, Funny

    Ah, the integers are nothing. You should have seen the real interval I had on the hook last week. I tried bring it onboard using a sieve I borrowed from Eratosthenes, but the sieve was not nearly large enough. I'm telling you, the boat nearly keeled over!