A Japanese mathematician claims to have solved one of the most important problems in his field. The trouble is, hardly anyone can work out whether he's right.
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07 October 2015
An earlier version of this story incorrectly located the University of Antwerp in the Netherlands. It is in Belgium. The text has been updated.
15 October 2015
An earlier version of this story incorrectly stated that Shinichi Mochizuki estimated that it would take an expert 500 hours to understand his proof. In fact, this was Ivan Fesenko’s estimate. The story also stated that Fesenko warned Mochizuki against speaking to the press, but this was not part of their discussion. The text has been modified accordingly.
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“IUT Theory of Shinichi Mochizuki” Clay Mathematics Institute workshop
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Castelvecchi, D. The biggest mystery in mathematics: Shinichi Mochizuki and the impenetrable proof. Nature 526, 178–181 (2015). https://doi.org/10.1038/526178a
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/526178a
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