Tim M wrote: > If they really did find proof that p==np wouldn't they be > millionaires and probably should have kept it to themselves. (I > haven't read that all the way through btw)
Actually, to publish such a paper publically is the only method, one can gain reputation in the mathematical world. And if you want one of the prizes for mathematical achievment you've no other choice. Funny enough some years ago Perelman published a paper online in which he proved Poincares conjecture, but then didn't want to take the prize (Fields medal). The proof was also one of the millenia problems, donated with 1 million dollars prize money, but for that to claim it would had to be published in one of the (offline) publications on mathematics. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Grigori_Perelman Wolfgang
