Nigerian
professor Opeyemi Enoch solves
156-year-old
maths problem (Riemann Hypothesis)
- Riemann Hypothesis is
considered one of the hardest maths problem
- Devised in 1859, it has been
resolved by professor Dr Opeyemi Enoch
- He has been given $1million (£658,000) for the work into prime
numbers
- Riemann Hypothesis was one of
the seven Millennium Problems in Mathematics set by the Clay
Mathematics Institute in 2000
One of the most important problems
in mathematics - the Riemann Hypothesis - is said to have finally been solved
by a Nigerian professor.
Dr Opeyemi Enoch claims he made a
key breakthrough in 2010 which later enabled him to solve the puzzle, which is
one of the seven Millennium Problems in Mathematics.
These seven puzzles were set by The
Clay Mathematics Institute in 2000 and, once confirmed, the organisation is
expected to reward Dr Enoch with a $1 million (£658,000) prize for his
discovery.
One of the most important problems
in mathematics – the Riemann Hypothesis – has been solved by Nigerian
professor, Dr Opeyemi Enoch (pictured above). Dr Enoch claims he made
a key breakthrough in 2010 which later enabled him to solve the puzzle, which
is one of the seven Millennium Problems in Mathematics
The Riemann Hypothesis was proposed
by mathematician Bernard Riemann in 1859 and concerns the distribution of prime
numbers.
It has become arguably the most
famous problem in mathematics, since Fermat's Last Theorem was solved in the
1990s.
At its most simple, the distribution
of prime numbers among all others doesn't follow a regular pattern.
However, Riemann noticed that the
frequency of prime numbers is very closely related to the behaviour of an
elaborate function called the Riemann Zeta function.
The hypothesis asserts that all
solutions of the equation ζ(s) = 0 lies on a certain vertical straight line,
according to the Clay Mathematics Institute.
While this has been checked for the
first 10,000,000,000 solutions, it is only now that a 'proof' explaining their distribution beyond this has been found.
The Riemann Hypothesis was proposed
by mathematician Bernard Riemann in 1859 (his working is pictured) and concerns
the distribution of prime numbers. It has become arguably the most famous
problem in mathematics, since Fermat's Last Theorem was solved in the 1990s
However,
The Clay Mathematical institute has neither confirmed nor denied that Dr Enoch
has officially solved the problem, simply saying it does not comment on
solutions to the Millennium Problems.
This has led to critics claiming the
story is a hoax and MailOnline has contacted the professor for more
information.
Dr Enoch, who teaches at the Federal
University of Oye Ekiti (FUOYE) in Nigeria, said he was motivated to solve the
156-year-old problem because of his students.
'The motivation was because my
students trusted that the solution could come from me - not because the
financial reward and that was why I started trying to solve the problem in the
first place,' he said.
THE
MILLENNIUM PRIZE PROBLEMS
The Millennium Prize Problems were
launched on 24 May, 2000.
They include seven problems considered
by the Clay Mathematics Institute to be 'important classic questions that have
resisted solution over the years'.
These include: P versus NP, The
Hodge conjecture, The Poincaré conjecture, The Riemann hypothesis, Yang–Mills
existence and mass gap, Navier–Stokes existence and smoothness and The Birch
and Swinnerton-Dyer conjecture.
The first person to solve each of
the problems will receive $1 million (£658,000).
The professor presented his proof on
11 November during the International Conference on Mathematics and Computer
Science in Vienna, Nigerian news site Vanguard reported.
A statement from the university said
that having started investigating the problem, Dr Enoch 'went on to consider
and to correct the misconceptions that were communicated by mathematicians in
the past generations, thus paving way for his solutions and proofs to be
established.
'He also showed how other problems
of this kind can be formulated and obtained the matrix that Hilbert and Poly
predicted will give these undiscovered solutions.
'He revealed how these solutions are
applicable in cryptography, quantum information science and in quantum
computers.'
Despite his achievement, the
academic said some people have been critical by asking "If this man can
solve the Riemann problem...why should he not be able to provide solutions to
Nigeria's problems?" Dr Enoch said.
'Some guys celebrated it, some
criticised it- saying what has that got to do with putting food on the tables
of Nigerians.'
Dr Enoch has previously designed a
prototype silo for poor farmers and is working on how to protect oil pipelines
from vandalism as well as mathematical approaches to climate
change.
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