AI just took an unprecedented step toward solving what is arguably math’s most towering problem: to prove the Riemann Hypothesis, which holds the key to the distribution of prime numbers. Alex Kontorovich, professor of mathematics at Rutgers University, joins Brian Greene to explain the result, and what it means for a field that has worked on these questions for more than a century.
Kontorovich lays out the connection between prime numbers and the Riemann zeta function, then explains what the new proof establishes and what it leaves open. He and Brian turn to the harder question of what mathematics becomes when machines can produce theorems that humans pursued for lifetimes. Kontorovich, argues that the value of a mathematician is shifting toward understanding and communication, and lays out why he remains optimistic about where mathematics is headed.
This program is part of the Rethinking Reality series, supported by the John Templeton Foundation.
This program can be watched here, and on our YouTube channel, starting at 7PM on Friday, November 13.
Brian Greene is a professor of physics and mathematics at Columbia University, and is recognized for a number of groundbreaking discoveries in his field of superstring theory. His books, The Elegant Universe, The Fabric of the Cosmos, and The Hidden Reality, have collectively spent 65 weeks on The New York Times bestseller list.
Read More
Alex Kontorovich is a Distinguished Professor and Chair of Mathematics at Rutgers University. He earned his BA from Princeton and his PhD from Columbia, and has held faculty positions at …
Read More
