111: Begin the New Year with... an Introduction to the Poincaré Conjecture! (Pure Mathematics)
Hey! It's been a minute since I wrote one of these, so I'm genuinely glad to be back. Happy New Year! I should be more regular now because I'm done with all university applications and I'm relatively free (as free as you can be by year 12). Today I'll be jabbering on a bit about the Poincaré Conjecture, one of the most special (solved) problems in mathematics. The Poincaré Conjecture Image Credit: Clay Mathematics Institute The Poincaré Conjecture is a fundamental problem in the branch of topology, best known as one of the 7 Millennium Prize Problems of the Clay Mathematics Institute. It was one of the most famous and long-standing unsolved problems in the history of mathematics until it was finally proven in 2003 by the Russian mathematician Grigori Perelman. Perelman's proof was a monumental achievement and earned him the Fields Medal and 1 million US Dollars (from the Clay Mathematics Institute) - both of which he declined (which I'll return to later). H