Solved: 400-Year-Old Maths Theory Finally Proven

<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on"> <span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">More than 400 years after it was first proposed, academics have shown that a German mathematician's theory is correct.</span><br /><div> <br /><div class="story__content-outer-wrapper" style="box-sizing: border-box; float: left; padding: 0px 332px 0px 0px; width: 992px;"> <section class="story__media" style="box-sizing: border-box;"><div class="module module--primary" style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 25px; width: 660px;"> <div class="image" style="box-sizing: border-box; margin-bottom: 25px;"> <div class="image__wrapper image__wrapper--16x9" style="box-sizing: border-box; overflow: hidden; padding-bottom: 371px; position: relative;"> <img alt="" class="image__item js-responsive" data-breakpoint="" data-sizes="144x81 362x204 762x428 942x530 1600x900" data-sizes-wide="" data-template="http://media.skynews.com/media/images/generated/2014/8/12/328953/default/v1/459354525-1-{width}x{height}.jpg" src="http://media.skynews.com/media/images/generated/2014/8/12/328953/default/v1/459354525-1-1600x900.jpg" style="border: 1px solid rgb(220, 220, 220); 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margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; max-width: 540px;"> <span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">Professor Thomas Hales from the University of Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, thought he had cracked the problem back in 1998.</span></div> <div style="box-sizing: border-box; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; max-width: 540px;"> <span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">A 300-page proof was developed, which took 12 reviewers four years to check for errors.</span></div> <div style="box-sizing: border-box; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; max-width: 540px;"> <span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">But even then, it could only prove the theory was 99% correct.</span></div> <div style="box-sizing: border-box; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; max-width: 540px;"> <span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">So, in 2003, he began to create a computational tool to check the proof beyond all doubt.</span></div> <div style="box-sizing: border-box; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; max-width: 540px;"> <span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">Called the Flyspeck project, it uses two pieces of formal verification software. Given enough time, it can check the logic of complex mathematical theories.</span></div> <div style="box-sizing: border-box; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; max-width: 540px;"> <span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">This week, Prof Hales and his team announced that his 1998 proof had been scrutinised by the software, and proven correct.</span></div> <div style="box-sizing: border-box; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; max-width: 540px;"> <span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">He told New Scientist: "I suddenly feel 10 years younger."</span></div> <div> <br /></div> </section><section class="partner-links" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: 100%; background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; color: #333333; font-family: SkyTextRegular, Helvetica, Arial, Verdana; font-size: 1.125rem; line-height: 1.625rem; margin: 0px auto 60px; max-width: 540px; overflow: hidden;"><div class="partner-links__external" style="box-sizing: border-box;"> </div> </section></div> </div> </div> </div>

Solved: 400-Year-Old Maths Theory Finally Proven

More than 400 years after it was first proposed, academics have shown that a German mathematician's theory is correct. A market ...

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