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Dedicated conference still can’t confirm a complex proof’s correctness

JUL 29, 2016
Physics Today

BBC : In 2012, Shinichi Mochizuki of Kyoto University in Japan published a proof of the abc conjecture —a theoretical relationship between prime numbers. The proof is so complex that it still hasn’t been verified by other mathematicians. In December, mathematicians organized a conference to discuss the proof, but Mochizuki did not attend and little progress was made. That led to last week’s conference at Kyoto University, with Mochizuki as the main speaker. The attendees now say they have a better understanding of Mochizuki’s work but still can’t determine whether the proof is correct or not.

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