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Sept. 29, 2012
In 1742, Prussian mathematician Christian Goldbach wrote down a mathematical conjecture that in its simplest form states: "every even integer greater than 2 can be written as the sum of two primes". Despite the simple formulation, it is notoriously difficult to find a proof for this conjecture; 270 years later, one remains to be found.
Image above: Servers at the CERN Data Centre form Tier-0 of the Worldwide LHC Computing Grid. As well as LHC physics, the Grid is helping to verify the Golbach conjecture for high numbers (Image: CERN).
Now, computer-science technologist Silvio Pardi at the Italian National Institute for Nuclear Physics (INFN) and mathematicians Tomás Oliveira e Silva and Siegfried Herzog are using an algorithm on the Worldwide LHC Computing Grid (WLCG) to verify that the Goldbach conjecture holds for ever larger numbers.
Note:
CERN, the European Organization for Nuclear Research, is one of the world’s largest and most respected centres for scientific research. Its business is fundamental physics, finding out what the Universe is made of and how it works. At CERN, the world’s largest and most complex scientific instruments are used to study the basic constituents of matter — the fundamental particles. By studying what happens when these particles collide, physicists learn about the laws of Nature.
The instruments used at CERN are particle accelerators and detectors. Accelerators boost beams of particles to high energies before they are made to collide with each other or with stationary targets. Detectors observe and record the results of these collisions.
Founded in 1954, the CERN Laboratory sits astride the Franco–Swiss border near Geneva. It was one of Europe’s first joint ventures and now has 20 Member States.
Find out more:
International Science Grid This Week: "Researchers edge closer to solving 270-year-old math problem thanks to grid computing": http://www.isgtw.org/feature/researchers-edge-closer-solving-270-year-old-math-problem-thanks-grid-computing
National Institute for Nuclear Physics (INFN): http://www.infn.it/
Worldwide LHC Computing Grid (WLCG): http://www.isgtw.org/feature/happy-10th-birthday-wlcg
Image, Text, Credit: CERN.
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