Ancient Mathematics Riddle Solved by Obscure Professor

Little known outside his position as an undergraduate calculus professor at the University of New Hampshire, Dr. Yitang “Tom” Zhang has created a proof that sheds some light on a mathematics riddle that has plagued mathematicians since ancient times.

Zhang has created a proof that tackles a problem dating back to the prime number theorem formed by Greek mathematician Euclid many centuries ago. His theorem states there are an infinite amount of prime numbers, or numbers that are only divisible by themselves and 1.

More specifically, Zhang’s work moves the mathematics world closer to proving the “twin primes conjecture,” which speculates that there are an infinite number of prime number pairs that are only separated by one even number (e.g. 3 and 5; 269 and 271; 18,383,549 and 18,383,551). Zhang’s proof proves that there are an infinite number of prime number pairs separated by less than 70 million numbers.

Certainly the separation of 70 million numbers is much larger than the separation of one even number, but the proof is the first that has proved the “bounded gap conjecture.” In other words, this is the first time anyone has proved that there are an infinite number of prime numbers separated by a specific number. And that’s why Zhang’s work is seen as such an accomplishment in the mathematics world.

“What’s very surprising is that something this strong can be rigorously proved in today’s world. Many people expected not to see this result proved in their lifetime,” Alex Kontorovich, a mathematician at Yale University, told the Boston Globe.

And this is another aspect of the importance of the proof: This type of discovery is still possible. It highlights the opportunity for future discoveries built upon Zhang’s work. A Slate.com article on the new proof points out that Zhang’s work builds on the work of his predecessors, and his work will likely be used as a foundation for future researchers. The Slate article also suggests that the new proof could be used for additional mathematical applications, including developing a richer theory of randomness.

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