Russian scientist solves 100 year old math problem

So this Russian mathematician works in the field of topology and might have laid the groundwork to be able to figure out the shape on the universe. Though I believe we already know to a pretty degree of certainty that it's flat.

MADRID, Spain Aug 22, 2006 (AP)— A reclusive Russian won an academic prize Tuesday for work toward solving one of history's toughest math problems, but he refused to accept the award a stunning renunciation of accolades from the top minds in his field.

Grigory Perelman, a 40-year-old native of St. Petersburg, was praised for work in the field known as topology, which studies shapes, and for a breakthrough that might help scientists figure out nothing less than the shape of the universe.

full article

they don't really go into what he really solved and I'm very interested, share your thoughts.

[edit on 22-8-2006 by Distortion]

Man that guy has a large brow. I hope that they are correct when they prove our universe is flat. OF course it sounds like someone saying the earth was flat a long time ago. Its probably round.

I can see how you might draw that analogy but in fact its kinda the other way around. You would infer that the universe may be like a big ball but evidence has shown that it is most likely flat, but without boundaries. Its weird stuff.

I think they dont get into the problem that he actually solved because it required v v advanced maths. I think at a higher level than just a maths degree but Im not sure.

Its probably also alot harder to simplify down to just "he proved the universe is flat"

He solved a problem posed in 1904 called the Poincaré conjecture. The award for the solution was $1M. Others have tried to solve the Poincaré conjecture and have only managed to prove portions of its applicability. Both previous efforts have resulted in the awarding of Fields Medals in Mathematics to the respective mathematicians.

Perelman has declined both the award for solving the problem and the subsequent Fields Medal Award for recognition of his genious.

This guy's on a different plane than the rest of us and probably doesn't care one iota for recognition of his efforts. He'd probably rather be back at home working on other problems than making acceptance speeches and cashing checks...good for him!

What exactly was the problem that he solved???

Something about the universe being flat. I dont understand it anyway cause i am incapable of putting the picture of the universe in my head.

It's pretty cool stuff. Maybe it's because I'm an engineer (student) and math is just cool. There's a couple places to check out. One of course being the Clay Mathematics Institute website. CMI That's a link to the Millenium problem set. They're off to the right side.

There's some cool stuff there. There's also Navier-Stokes which scares the # out of me as an aero. Considering it often takes supercomputers to run Navier-Stokes code. It's not pretty if you want really good accuracy. They should also add the Three Body Problem in closed form. It's never been solved in closed form in 200 years. There's also sorts of variants or special conditions that you can apply to it to get it to work, but it's never been solved just as the Three Body Problem. I've been working with the Circular Restricted Three Body Problem, a variation where one of the masses in negligible. Needless to say, even this is a fugly problem. I've got code to run it, but I'll be damned if I know how to use. It's funny how that works.

Im with R3KR I also think that it is v.differcult to picture the universe as flat. However if the universe is without boundaries how can it be flat...since wouldnt it occupy every direction....so in reality shouldnt it be the same shape as the area as it is filling, like liquid in a container.

Sorry if this makes no sense

Originally posted by Distortion
So this Russian mathematician works in the field of topology and might have laid the groundwork to be able to figure out the shape on the universe. Though I believe we already know to a pretty degree of certainty that it's flat.

MADRID, Spain Aug 22, 2006 (AP)— A reclusive Russian won an academic prize Tuesday for work toward solving one of history's toughest math problems, but he refused to accept the award a stunning renunciation of accolades from the top minds in his field.

Grigory Perelman, a 40-year-old native of St. Petersburg, was praised for work in the field known as topology, which studies shapes, and for a breakthrough that might help scientists figure out nothing less than the shape of the universe.

full article

they don't really go into what he really solved and I'm very interested, share your thoughts.

[edit on 22-8-2006 by Distortion]

Does anyone know if any of his works have published on any site? I would at least like to take a look at the problem with a breif explanation of how he got it. But ya as one poster put its prolly over any math that one would learn in their lifetime