# Has the Riemann Hypothesis been proven? **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [September 29, 2018, 7:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/has-the-riemann-hypothesis-been-proven/822158 "2018-09-29T07:15:46Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 8\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Dr.Strangelove](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dr.strangelove/32/6613_2.png) [@Dr.Strangelove](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dr.Strangelove)\ **Post date:** [October 1, 2018, 1:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/has-the-riemann-hypothesis-been-proven/822158/21 "2018-10-01T01:46:12Z")
> [@Hari\_Seldon](#): > > True, entirely true, but the intuitionists reject all of modern mathematics. I cannot take them seriously. I’m not sure they take themselves 100% seriously… but I don’t know. Still–I think it’s a nice effort to prove things using the weakest possible set of axioms. Plus, constructive arguments do tend to be more satisfying than non-constructive ones. Like the axiom of choice–use it if you need to, but it’s nicer if you don’t. ---
**Author:** ![Hari\_Seldon](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hari_seldon/32/5173_2.png) [@Hari\_Seldon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hari_Seldon)\ **Post date:** [October 1, 2018, 1:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/has-the-riemann-hypothesis-been-proven/822158/22 "2018-10-01T01:55:10Z")
> [@rat\_avatar](#): > > Nothing that anyone can tell. Unfortunately it seems to be embarrassing chapter of an aging mathematician. The lack of public denouncement by others in the field seems to be due to respect for the man. > > Apparently he started mentioning his work on a grand unifying theory shortly after his beloved wife passed. > > If you watch the presentation this may be a bit more clear. > > I wish him the best. I listened. The truly noteworthy fact is his claim that it came out of his study of the fine structure constant. Now, the fine structure constant is an observable quantity, related to Planck’s constant and not a mathematical quantity at all. In a different universe it could, as far as anyone knows, have a different value. It seems inconceivable to me that any study of the FSC could bear on the RH. ---
**Author:** ![Andy\_L](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/c67d28/32.png) [@Andy\_L](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Andy_L)\ **Post date:** [October 1, 2018, 2:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/has-the-riemann-hypothesis-been-proven/822158/23 "2018-10-01T02:03:21Z")
> [@OldGuy](#): > > Why in the world would a proof by contradiction not be a real proof. Cantor’s diagonal proof is a proof by contradiction, and I think mathematicians consider it to be a real proof. We had a discussion of proof by contradiction a while back, by the way [Professional Mathematicians -- Bias against non-direct proofs? - Factual Questions - Straight Dope Message Board](https://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=689130) ---
**Author:** ![rat\_avatar](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/rat_avatar/32/255_2.png) [@rat\_avatar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/rat_avatar)\ **Post date:** [October 1, 2018, 2:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/has-the-riemann-hypothesis-been-proven/822158/24 "2018-10-01T02:20:53Z")
> [@Hari\_Seldon](#): > > I listened. The truly noteworthy fact is his claim that it came out of his study of the fine structure constant. Now, the fine structure constant is an observable quantity, related to Planck’s constant and not a mathematical quantity at all. In a different universe it could, as far as anyone knows, have a different value. It seems inconceivable to me that any study of the FSC could bear on the RH. While I hesitate to do so out of respect, look into his claimed 12-page Feit Thompson proof and paper on 6-spheres before you dedicate too much time. I started to itemize issues or required points of clarification with this claim but stopped as it felt like I was stepping on puppies. I’ll leave it to others. ---
**Author:** ![Itself](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/d07c76/32.png) [@Itself](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Itself)\ **Post date:** [October 1, 2018, 2:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/has-the-riemann-hypothesis-been-proven/822158/25 "2018-10-01T02:43:06Z")
It looks like his purported 12-page proof of Feit-Thompson isn’t available anywhere online, but he has a paper about complex structures on S^6 on the arxiv and another in a book called “Foundations of Mathematics and Physics One Century After Hilbert.” The former is just nonsense. I can only find a preview of the first two pages of the latter, but they’re just elementary, unrelated stuff about Minkowski space, and the entire thing is only four pages long. Oh well. ---
**Author:** ![PastTense](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pasttense/32/14550_2.png) [@PastTense](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/PastTense)\ **Post date:** [January 12, 2019, 9:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/has-the-riemann-hypothesis-been-proven/822158/26 "2019-01-12T21:36:20Z")
Sir Michael Atiyah just passed away: > **[Mathematician Sir Michael Atiyah dies aged 89](https://www.bbc.com/news/science-environment-46850763)** > > The former Cambridge professor had received the highest honour in his subject - a Fields Medal. More extensive obituary: > **[Michael Atiyah, Mathematician in Newton’s Footsteps, Dies at 89 (Published 2019)](https://www.nytimes.com/2019/01/11/obituaries/michael-atiyah-dead.html)** > > One of the 20th century’s leading mathematical theorists, he revealed a connection between math and physics not seen since the 17th century. ---
**Author:** ![Hari\_Seldon](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hari_seldon/32/5173_2.png) [@Hari\_Seldon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hari_Seldon)\ **Post date:** [January 12, 2019, 11:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/has-the-riemann-hypothesis-been-proven/822158/27 "2019-01-12T23:53:19Z")
> [@PastTense](#): > > Sir Michael Atiyah just passed away: > [Mathematician Sir Michael Atiyah dies aged 89](https://www.bbc.com/news/science-environment-46850763) > > More extensive obituary: > [https://www.nytimes.com/2019/01/11/obituaries/michael-atiyah-dead.html](https://www.nytimes.com/2019/01/11/obituaries/michael-atiyah-dead.html) Sorry to hear that. There is a line in the NYT obituary that says his proof of RH did not hold up. ---
**Author:** ![Chronos](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chronos/32/134_2.png) [@Chronos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chronos)\ **Post date:** [January 13, 2019, 12:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/has-the-riemann-hypothesis-been-proven/822158/28 "2019-01-13T00:16:23Z")
As an aside, I’ve long suspected that the fine-structure constant can, in fact, be mathematically calculated. It’s not like it’d be the first time that a dimensionless constant of fundamental physics has been discovered to be calculable. But at the same time, any claim of a calculation should be treated with skepticism, especially if it doesn’t come from a coherent physical model which makes other testable predictions. I’m not convinced by arguments like “this simple formula produces α to ten decimal places, and that can’t be coincidence!”, because even “simple” formulae generally contain more information than they seem to, and coincidences happen, especially when you have the whole universe of numbers to look for. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/has-the-riemann-hypothesis-been-proven/822158.md?page=1)