8 years after he first published it online, 600-page proof for an in-depth mathematical theorem was accepted for publication in an academic paper by mathematician Shinichi Mochizuki of the University of Kyoto.
But there is a twist: worldwide academic mathematicians didn’t accept Mochizuki resolved this problem, called ‘the conjecture of ABC,’ at the time, and now they are not sure.
If Mochizuki is right, he will revolutionize the theory of numbers. Yet field experts do not find approval in a newspaper to be almost sufficient evidence. The ABC theorem is a mathematical principle with far-reaching ramifications-unless Mochizuki obviously nailed it. This states that, if two numbers could be entirely divided into small primary numbers, then only a smaller number of large primary numbers can be devised.
In 2012, Mochizuki posted four huge online preprints stating that the conjecture was evidence of the Abc. But nobody was able to test his claims. Experts then compared the four papers to try and decode an alien language from the NYT records.
Many researchers would possibly not step into Mochizuki’s camp with the new announcement. Kiran Kedlaja, a number theorist at the San Diego University of California who was among the experts who had spent considerable effort verifying Mochizuki’s reported evidence. And, said, “I think it is fair to say that since 2018 there has been little change in the community’s opinion.”
Edward Frenkel of the University of California, Berkeley, another mathematician, stated: “I would reject my opinion about publishing this work before new knowledge actually emerges.”
The publication of a journal also does not stop the peer-review process in the field of mathematics. A significant finding is really an agreed conclusion only after a consensus is reached that it is right and it can take years to achieve this after an official paper is written.
“I still think it would be fantastic if Mochizuki’s thoughts proved to be right, given all the difficulties over the years,” says Minhyong Kim, a mathematician at Oxford University, UK.