A proof of the Riemann hypothesis

http://arxiv.org/abs/0807.0090

by lapenne • 18 years ago

15 7 18 years ago

arxiv.org

michael_dorfman• 18 years ago

Anyone know enough math to be able to tell if this is a serious contender?

te_platt• 18 years ago

I know enough to know the author believes it to be a serious contender. At least it's not some kind of joke.

cperciva• 18 years ago

This isn't my area, but I know enough to say that he speaks the right language and builds on existing results in the field.

So I'd classify this as a serious contender... in the same sense as other serious contenders have been put forward every 1-2 years for the past 50 years, only to be withdrawn after someone points out mistakes. I'd say that it's almost certain that there are mistakes somewhere in this paper -- the only question is whether they're serious flaws or just minor errors which can be worked around.

rms• 18 years ago

The author has this named after him. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Li%27s_criterion

antiform• 18 years ago

He'll have to get in line. [http://secamlocal.ex.ac.uk/people/staff/mrwatkin/zeta/RHproo...]

If you peruse the Number Theory papers on the arXiv, you'll see that there is a purported proof of the Riemann hypothesis every few weeks. So far, none of them have been vetted by a professional journal. I'd be very surprised (but happy) if this turned out to contain a correct proof.

A more interesting question would be "Why is this particular proof by this otherwise unknown author getting so much attention?"

brent• 18 years ago

At least two answers to your question:

1) He authored http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Li%27s_criterion

2) I believe some theorists have already looked at it and I haven't heard anything negative [disclaimer: I'm far from an expert and wouldn't be able to even agree or disagree with their analyses].

jlhamilton• 18 years ago

Terence Tao says there is a problem with the proof.

http://terrytao.wordpress.com/2008/02/07/structure-and-rando...

A proof of the Riemann hypothesis

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