$1 million math challenge issued
Publishers seek solution to prime-number conundrum
ASSOCIATED PRESS
LONDON , March 17 � Two publishers are offering a
million dollars to anyone who can prove that all
even numbers are the sum of two prime
numbers. No one has cracked the problem in the
more than 250 years since it was first posed, and
Friday�s announcement indicated the publishers
aren�t too worried about having to pay up.
THE THEORY, known as Goldbach�s Conjecture,
was suggested by the Prussian mathematician Christian
Goldbach in 1742.
It�s easy enough to think of an even number that is the
sum of two prime numbers � those which cannot be
divided evenly by any number except themselves. For
instance, 5 plus 7 equals 12, or 67 plus 3 equals 70. But so
far it has been impossible to prove that it works for every
imaginable even number.
Faber and Faber, in conjunction with Bloomsbury
Publishing in the United States, announced the challenge
Friday to promote the coming release of �Uncle Petros and
Goldbach�s Conjecture,� by Apostolos Doxiadis.
�Proving it may well be impossible,� the publishers
said, �and it is very probable that only a highly skilled
mathematician would ever be able to produce a proof that
meets the requirements of these rules.�
The publishers set a deadline of March 15, 2002.
To claim the prize, the winner would have to have the
solution accepted for publication by a reputable
mathematical journal and then have the proof confirmed by
at least four members of a six-judge panel appointed by
Faber and Faber.
However, you don�t have to buy a copy of �Uncle
Petros� to compete, the publishers said.
�By offering this challenge, neither Faber and Faber
Limited nor Bloomsbury Publishing are representing or
warranting that the validity of Goldbach�s Conjecture is
capable of proof in the general case,� the publishers said.
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