过去三十年相关领域的数学家一致期望Langlands Program中的一个基本引理会被证明的确是精确的。Ngo Bao Chau一位在法国Université Paris-Sud
和普林斯顿Institute for Advanced Study (IAS) 工作的越南数学家(1972年生于越南河内),证明了这一引理,2009年相关领域的数学家验证了他的证明。这一结果被《时代》杂志列为2009年度十大科学发现的第七项。
The Fundamental Lemma, Solved
In 1979 the
Canadian-American mathematician Robert Langlands
developed an ambitious and revolutionary theory that connected two branches of
mathematics called number theory and group theory. In a dazzling set of
conjectures and insights, the theory captured deep symmetries associated with
equations that involve whole numbers, laying out what is now known as the Langlands program. Langlands knew
that the task of proving the assumptions that underlie his theory would be the
work of generations. But he was convinced that one stepping stone that needed
confirmation — dubbed the "fundamental lemma" — would be reasonably
straightforward. He, his collaborators and his students were able to prove
special cases of this fundamental theorem. But proving the general case proved
more difficult than Langlands anticipated — so
difficult, in fact, that it took 30 years to finally achieve. Over the past few
years, Ngo Bao Chau, a
Vietnamese mathematician working at Université Paris-Sud and the Institute for Advanced Study (IAS) in
《时代》杂志列为2009年度十大科学发现
1.
Our
Oldest Ancestor, "Ardi"
2.
The
Human Epigenome, Decoded
3.
Gene
Therapy Cures Color Blindness
7.
The
Fundamental Lemma, Solved