The hero of this story is Grigory Perelman, the uncrowned king of mathematics, considered by many to be the smartest man alive. He is the Russian mathematician who solved the Poincaré hypothesis, one of the biggest unsolvable problems in mathematics.
When the year 2000 rolled around, the Clay Mathematical Institute officially introduced to the public the millennium questions that had remained unsolved until then and were known as the “Questions of the Millennium”, with a cash prize for each one. One of these questions was the “Poincare Conjecture.” Henri Poincare posed this question in 1904 and Grigori Perelman solved it in 2002. However, the event that made him famous was not only his solution of this question, but also his general approach after the solution.
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Perelman not only solved the problem, but also published his 33-page solution for the first time on the internet, on an open access scientific archive site. When the solution submitted to arXiv.org was officially verified in 2006, the Clay Mathematics Institute started to prepare the promised 1 million dollars for Perelman. Perelman was also awarded the Fields Prize, the Nobel Prize of mathematics. The world was eager to see this mysterious man. But he did not accept these awards. While the world was chasing success, he made history with the following words. “I don’t want to be famous. I just solved a question and it’s interesting that it’s such a big deal. If my proof is correct, it is enough and satisfying.”
Why didn’t Grigori Perelman accept the award?
Is he too rich? While everyone was asking each other this question, photographs of the small house where he lived with his mother began to circulate. No, he was not very rich, in fact he was living a life that could be called poor. However, his understanding of wealth was very different from society’s.
It was possible to see and sense the ideal of science in Perelman’s behavior. Perelman did not want any reward other than being tested, discussed, verified if valid, and having his value recognized. It is also possible to sense the effect of his disappointments in the background of this attitude. To understand him, it is also necessary to have an idea about his life story.
Who is Grigori Perelman?
Grigori “Grisha” Perelman was born on June 13, 1966 in Leningrad, Soviet Union (now Saint Petersburg, Russia) to an electrical engineer father and a mathematician mother. Perelman’s mother gave up her graduate studies to raise him and his younger sister.
Perelman’s mathematical talent was evident from an early age. In 1982, he took part in the International Mathematical Olympiad as a member of the Soviet team. Perelman achieved a perfect score and won the gold medal. At the age of 16, he entered the School of Mathematics and Mechanics at Leningrad State University and received his PhD. Afterwards, he accepted a position at the State University of New York. However, he did not find what he was looking for in New York. He then rejected offers from top US universities and returned to the Steklov Institute in Saint Petersburg in 1995.
How did the Poincaré Conjecture Solution Process Evolve?
The American mathematician Richard Hamilton had laid an important mathematical foundation for the solution of the Poincaré conjecture, but then his solution was blocked. Grigori Perelman came up with a solution that would eliminate his stumbling block. However, he contacted Hamilton to collaborate with him, but received no response.
After the solution was disseminated electronically, he often mentioned that he had benefited from Richard Hamilton’s work at the invitations he attended, and at the end of his presentation at Stony Brook, he said, “I am Hamilton’s protégé, even though I did not have his permission.” Nevertheless, it must have been a real disappointment for him that he did not receive the attention he deserved from Hamilton.
Before 2006, it was announced that Perelman had resigned from the Steklov Mathematical Institute in Russia, where he had been working, and that he was leaving mathematics. He told those who asked that he had retired from the mathematical community and no longer considered himself a professional mathematician.
The proof of the Poincaré conjecture has been the passionate goal of many scientists. Papers are constantly appearing claiming that this conjecture has been solved. But before long, the proofs in the papers would turn out to be wrong. So Perelman’s solution also faced these doubts in this environment. But it was not the fact that his solution was doubted or discussed that caused Perelman to rebel. In his own words, he was “ostracized from the world of mathematics.
The Poincaré conjecture that Perelman solved gives important clues about the shape of the universe. Looking back many years later, Perelman’s name, his rebellion and his solution will already have the great impact they deserve, because of the radical transformations, methods and new discoveries he brought about.
