Is there a real world outcome to this result?
No you can't make a startup off this result now get back to optimizing ads.
Monumental (if correct) advance in number theory posted to ArXiv by Yitang Zhang
61–70 of 439 posts
Re: Monumental (if correct) advance in number theory posted to ArXiv by Yitang Zhang
#62> To give a sense of the scale of this claim: If correct, Zhang's work is the most significant progress towards the Generalized Riemann Hypothesis in a century. Thanks, that totally failed to give any sense of scale.
>Moreover, I think this result would not only be a more significant advance than Zhang's previous breakthrough, but also constitute a larger leap for number theory than Wiles' 1994 proof of Fermat's Last Theorem (which was, in my opinion, the greatest single achievement by an individual mathematician in the 20th century).
Was the rest of the context not more enlightening?
E.g. Would constitute a larger leap than proving Fermat's Last theorem which was "the greatest single achievement by an individual mathematician in the 20th century"
Re: Monumental (if correct) advance in number theory posted to ArXiv by Yitang Zhang
#63Is Yitang Zhang this century's Ramanujan?
Not really, he seems a grinding kind of mathematician, vs. Ramanujan who wouldn't bother with proofs.
Re: Monumental (if correct) advance in number theory posted to ArXiv by Yitang Zhang
#64Re: Monumental (if correct) advance in number theory posted to ArXiv by Yitang Zhang
#65Complete aside it is interesting that he announced his result in Peking university given that he has been vocal about his dislike of the Chinese communist party.
Re: Monumental (if correct) advance in number theory posted to ArXiv by Yitang Zhang
#66He's one of my personal heroes!!! Go Zhang!
Re: Monumental (if correct) advance in number theory posted to ArXiv by Yitang Zhang
#67Is there a real world outcome to this result?
I think it's fair to say that this could lead to certain new things becoming known about the distribution of primes. This could have implications for cryptographic algorithms that depend on prime numbers being hard to find.
Careful, prime numbers are not hard to find.
Like, try
openssl prime -generate -bits 2048
Some number theory research may impact the security of cryptosystems, but not all results do.
Re: Monumental (if correct) advance in number theory posted to ArXiv by Yitang Zhang
#68I'm not a mathematician, but the story of Yitang Zhang desperately makes me want this paper to be correct. > Prior to getting back to academia, he worked for several years as an accountant and a delivery worker for a New York City restaurant. He also worked in a motel in Kentucky and in a Subway sandwich shop. A profile published in the Quanta Magazine reports that Zhang used to live in his car during the initial job…
I am updating my assumptions about Subway Sandwich Artists. When they seem unfocused on the artwork at hand it may be because they are thinking more important thoughts.
Re: Monumental (if correct) advance in number theory posted to ArXiv by Yitang Zhang
#69Two additional notes: 1. Zhang posted an attempt at solving this problem in 2007 that he later more or less admitted was flawed: https://mathoverflow.net/questions/131221/yitang-zhangs-2007... . But speaking with mathematicians who are intimately familiar with Zhang's previous work, there seems to be good reason to be optimistic nevertheless. First, the idea behind Zhang's proof is similar to the zero-repulsion ideas…
Hardy may have a point, on average. And it’s probably because of the responsibilities factor, i.e. older people have kids, families, departments to run, etc that takes them out of the game. If I did math with this level of intensity I would not have time for both without a partner willing to make quite some sacrifices.
Re: Monumental (if correct) advance in number theory posted to ArXiv by Yitang Zhang
#70Big if true
Appropriately concise.