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 āsimple proofā of the Riemann hypothesis, a problem which has eluded mathematicians for almost 160 years.
Born in 1929, Atiyah is one of the UKās 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 anyĀ 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.
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As one of the six unsolved , any solution would also be eligible for aĀ $1 million prize. The prestige has tempted many mathematicians over the years, none of which has yet been awarded the prize.
Atiyah is well aware of this history of failure. āNobody believes any proof of the Riemann hypothesis, let alone a proof by someone whoās 90,ā he says, but he hopes his presentation will convince his critics.
In it, he pays tribute to the work of two great 20th century mathematicians, John von Neumann and Friedrich Hirzebruch, whose developments he claims laid the foundations for his own proposed proof. āIt fell into my lap, I had to pick it up,ā he says.
Ā鶹“«Ć½Ā contacted a number of mathematicians to comment on the claimed proof, but all of them declined. Atiyah has produced a number of papers in recent years making remarkable claims which have so far failed to convince his peers.
āPeople say āwe know mathematicians do all their best work before theyāre 40āā, says Atiyah. āIām trying to show them that theyāre wrong. That I can do something when Iām 90.ā
