Wikipedia-sized maths problem cut down to size

摘要

A maths problem previously tackled with the help of a computer, which produced a monster proof the size of Wlkipedia, has now been made manageable by a human. Although it is unlikely to have practical applications, the result highlights the differences between two modern approaches to mathematics: crowdsourcing and computers. Terence Tao of the University of California, Los Angeles, has published a proof of the Erdos discrepancy problem, a puzzle about the properties of an infinite, random sequence of +1s and -1s.