Today the internet has been getting excited about Sir Michael Atiyah’s claimed proof of the Riemann Hypothesis, which he presented at the Heidelberg Laureate Forum this morning. We’ve collected all the relevant links and tweets to help you make sense of what’s going down in critical-line-town.
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Michael Atiyah claims proof of Riemann Hypothesis
Is Sir Michael Atiyah giving lecture on Monday Sept. 25 @ #HLF18? Yes.
Will he presenenting a proof of the Riemann Hypothesis? Yes, that is what his abstract says. pic.twitter.com/v1dJhUUUEk— Heidelberg Laureate Forum (@HLForum) September 20, 2018
The internet is buzzing with the news: algebraic topologist and geometer Sir Michael Atiyah has announced that at his talk next Monday at the Heidelberg Laureate Forum, he will deliver a simple new proof of the long-standing Riemann Hypothesis. The news comes as a surprise to many, considering that since the result has been unproven since its conjecture in 1859, if a proof does exist it will likely be far from simple.
Hannah Fry’s Hello World is Radio 4 Book of the Week
This week Radio 4 has chosen Hannah Fry’s new book Hello World as its Book of the Week. This means excerpts from the book are read out each day, and you can listen along on iPlayer Radio.
To find out what the book’s like, read this review by Colin Beveridge.
Maths at the British Science Festival 2018
Guest author Kevin Houston has written a round-up of maths-related events at next week’s British Science Festival.
The British Science Festival is taking place in Hull and the Humber 11-14th September. There are lots of talks so I’ve put together a handy guide to talks with a mathematics-related theme.
The Joy Of Winning documentary on BBC2
MATHS FANS! A rare treat for you. Tomorrow night, BBC4 will show The Joy of Winning – an hour long proper proper maths doc packed to the brim with glorious game theory. I think it might just be my favourite thing I've ever done for telly. pic.twitter.com/Xx09Wowwzz
— Hannah Fry (@FryRsquared) August 27, 2018
Hannah Fry presents a new one-off BBC4 documentary about game theory (reading the description, it sounds more classic than combinatorial), which the BBC4 website describes as a “gleefully nerdy adventure”. Should be fun!
This is tomorrow, 28th August 2018 at 9pm on BBC4 and on iPlayer after.
Update: iPlayer link to The Joy Of Winning.
International Congress of Mathematicians 2022 – St Petersburg
Saint Petersburg will host the next International Congress of Mathematicians, in 2022.
More information: Saint Petersburg beats Paris to win bid to host ICM 2022.
2018 Christopher Zeeman Medal awarded to Hannah Fry
TV maths legend and UCL-based mathematician Hannah Fry has been awarded this year’s IMA/LMS Christopher Zeeman Medal, which aims to recognise and acknowledge the contributions of mathematicians involved in promoting mathematics to the public and engaging with the public in mathematics in the UK.
Named after the late Professor Sir Christopher Zeeman FRS, whose Royal Institution Christmas Lectures on mathematics in 1978 were a shining example and led to the development of their mathematics and engineering Masterclass programme, the medal will be awarded at a ceremony to take place in 2019, where Dr Fry will also give a lecture.
From the official announcement/citation:
Hannah Fry’s dedication in promoting mathematics to the widest possible public has not only done untold good for the subject, but has provided a powerful role model for mathematicians, most especially female ones, making mathematics feel more relevant, more humorous and most of all more human. Her spectacular success in an otherwise notoriously difficult endeavour may be ascribed to a unique and enviable set of characteristics. First, she has an uncanny instinct for spotting mathematics that will readily engage the public, and then of constructing the perfect context and using it to convey profound mathematical ideas that might otherwise appear dry. Second, she is effortlessly able to transcend audience boundaries and make mathematics both accessible and “cool” to an enormous range of hard-to-convince onlookers. Finally, Hannah has a tremendous capacity for her sheer hard work: the breadth and range of activities that she undertakes, the number of separate media appearances to which she commits, and the widely disparate audiences and age groups that she is able to reach are all eloquent testament to her ability and commitment. Perhaps her most significant achievement is to have inspired a generation of girls in a way that has not been done before.
Hannah Fry awarded 2018 Zeeman Medal, on the LMS website
More information about the Christopher Zeeman Medal award, on the LMS website
Medal citation (PDF)