Solver of Poincare Conjecture Declines Award
There was apparently some speculation as to whether he would accet the award for solving the Conjecture. In layman's terms (well, from the BBC):The riddle had perplexed mathematicians since it was first posited by Frenchman Henri Poincare in 1904.
It is a central question in topology, the study of the geometrical properties of objects that do not change when they are stretched, distorted or shrunk.
The hollow shell of the surface of the Earth is what topologists call a two-dimensional sphere. If one were to encircle it with a lasso of string, it could be pulled tight to a point.
On the surface of a doughnut however, a lasso passing through the hole in the centre cannot be shrunk to a point without cutting through the surface.
More dimensions
Since the 19th Century, mathematicians have known that the sphere is the only enclosed two-dimensional space with this property. But they were uncertain about objects with more dimensions.
The Poincare Conjecture says that a three-dimensional sphere is the only enclosed three-dimensional space with no holes. But proof of the conjecture has so far eluded mathematicians.
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posted by jimboses @ 8:50 PM
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