At the new gigahertz speed, it would not take that long to check out all
even numbers, would it? :-) :-)
Or find an exception less than 10^100 or so.
At 07:01 PM 3/20/00 -0800, you wrote:
>
> $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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