Going Beyond Fermat's Last Theorem

amjith writes "An Indian mathematician, Chandrashekhar Khare, is poised to make a significant breakthrough in the field of number theory with his solution of part of a major outstanding problem in algebraic number theory. He is currently an associate professor in Mathematics Department of University of Utah. "

What is it about?

[ghoti]

Could somebody explain what this is about, and what this would mean? There isn't any concrete information on that in TFA ...

Besides, this is kinda vaporware. Why is this even news? Why not talk about it once it's done?

Serre Conjecture

[00squirrel]

More info about the Serre Conjecture can be found here [wolfram.com].

Pretty exciting stuff! (Relatively speaking, of course :-)

Re:And being Indian ...

[ggvaidya]

Okay, point duly noted :).

It does just seemed to me as if the point'd been made gratuitously, though. Associate Prof (his current job status in the field: it would've be much more interesting if the breakthrough had come from a full Prof, or a grad student) and University of Utah (if you were interested in following up on it) seems to be more relevant than the country he was born in.

When was the last time Albert Einstein was refered to as "that German professor", or Isaac Newton as "that English scientist"? It's just not relevant.

Maybe it's just me.

Re:And being Indian ...

[Mantorp]

not according to Wikipedia. [wikipedia.org] They got Babylonians, Greeks, Egyptians, Persians and Chinese in the summary. Maybe their outsourcing contracts required that the credit goes to those other countries.

I thought...

[Stalyn]

that Serre's Conjecture [wolfram.com] was already proven [wikipedia.org]?

Beyond Fermat

[amightywind]

This is the real problem beyond Fermat [claymath.org]

Re:Explanation needed

[saforrest]

Can any expert confirm this or explain why this is relevant?

Yes, Fermat's Last Theorem was proven by Andrew Wiles in the early nineties.

This result would (apparently) supply another proof. Like the first, it would rely on quite complex and modern mathematics, but a slightly different sort than before.

The thing is that Fermat's Last Theorem is not especially important to mathematics; it's mostly a historical curiosity. However, it is a simple enough equation that anyone with a smattering of mathematics can understand: all you need to understand is exponentiation and addition operations, what an equation is, and what integers are. Plus, the story about Fermat's boast makes good press. These things make the equation famous.

So, the fact that this may prove Fermat's Last Theorem is icing on the cake, but for mathematicians the importance of the result is in its major implications for a vast field of research (algebraic geometry).

If it is actually proven, that is. I have seen enough popular accounts of some mathematician "on the verge of proving X" to not put much trust in such things. Wiles was wise to work in secret.

Re:erm

[exp(pi*sqrt(163))]

I'm a pure mathematician and I think this story is both uninteresting and irrelevant. It's not nerdy at all. It's a parochial feel-good story for Indians but unfortunately, because it's available over the world, that's to the Web, it's been mistaken for relevant story about something interesting.

Re:Slashdot and mathematics breakthroughs...

[avandesande]

Methinks that mathmatics is a fertile ground for boondogglers who are willing to do *anything* to get a story submitted on /. I think that if the editors can't figure out WTF the article is about they shouldn't post it.