Abstract:
In 2000, the Clay Mathematics Institute placed a bounty of one million
dollars on each of seven unsolved problems in mathematics encompassing
some of the most difficult issues with which mathematicians were
grappling at the turn of the century. In 2002 Grigory Perelman of
St. Petersburg, Russia posted online a solution to the Poincaré
Conjecture, one of these "Milennium Prize Problems".
Mathematicians have been on the edge of their seats ever since, torn
between elation at the possibility of having found a solution and
regret at the closure of one of mathematics' storied quests. 2006
is the first year the mathematics community has been able to confirm
(after rigorous review) that Perelman's proof is valid. In the
meantime the story has turned in unexpected directions. Perelman
has shown little interest in the million dollar prize, and in August of
2006 he declined the Fields Medal, the highest honor in mathematics,
which he was awarded in part for his proof of the Poincaré
Conjecture. Other people have meanwhile laid claim to some of the
credit for the proof. Disputes over who solved the
Poincaré Conjecture, allegations of defamation, and lawsuits are
rocking the mathematics community while Perelman is likely at home
proving another theorem. Come see why the Poincaré
Conjecture has intrigued mathematicians for 100 years, what Perelman
saw that no one else did, and hear about the cast of characters
involved.
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Biographical sketch: Katherine Crowley did her undergraduate work at
St. Olaf College and her graduate work at Rice University. Her
mathematical interests lie at the intersection of topology, geometry,
and combinatorics. After finishing her Ph.D. she toured the
country a bit, doing a postdoc at Columbia University for three years,
and teaching at St. Olaf for one year, before settling into a position
at Washington and Lee University just down the road from JMU. She
is quite fond of hiking, biking, and life in general in the Shenandoah
Valley.
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