Genius triumphs: Japanese mathematician's solution to number theory riddle validated

KYOTO – A proof by mathematician Shinichi Mochizuki of a major conundrum in number theory that went unresolved for over 30 years has finally been validated, Kyoto University said Friday following a controversy over his method, which was often labeled too novel or complicated to understand. Accepted for publication by the university's Research Institute for Mathematical Sciences was Mochizuki's 600-page proof of the abc conjecture, which provides immediate proofs for many other famous mathematical problems, including Fermat's last theorem, which took almost 350 years to be demonstrated. The abc conjecture, proposed by European mathematicians in 1985, is an equation of three integers a, b, and c composed of different prime numbers, where a b c, and describing the relationship between the product of the prime numbers and c. "There are a number of new notions and it was hard to understand them," Masaki Kashiwara, head of the team that examined the professor's theory, said at a news conference. He proved the abc conjecture with a "totally new, innovative theory," said fellow professor Akio Tamagawa. "His achievement creates a huge impact in the field of number theory."