Proof of a concept
Grigory Perelman validates Poincaré conjecture
A stunning triumph of intellect is how Science magazine’s 2006 yearend editorial described it. The matter pertained to a problem formulated in 1904 by French mathematician Henri Poincaré in topology — the mathematical study of properties of shapes which remain unchanged if they are deformed — stretched, warped, or moulded, but not torn. A solution had evaded the brightest of minds till an unworldly Russian mathematician, Grigori Perelman, released one — part of a larger problem he was tackling — on the Internet in 2002. The problem in layman’s terms is: Are all solid objects without holes distinct from those with some? It has been said that the full impact of Perelman’s work on mathematics and physics will be felt 100 years from now, and may be central to determining the shape of the universe. That is, to answer the question: Is the space we thrive in a whole with a hole?