Oxford Professor Cracks Fermat’s Last Theorem

An Oxford professor managed to solve one of the most difficult problems in the history of modern mathematics. Professor Andrew Wiles, a math wiz hailing from the Oxford University, managed to crack open in 1994 Fermat’s Last Theorem, widely considered to be unsolvable.

In recognition for his contributions to the field of Mathematics and Sciences, the Norwegian Academy of Sciences and Letters has decided to award Andrew Wiles, an Oxford Professor, the Abel Prize and the sum of 700.000 US dollars.

In the early ‘90s, Andrew Wiles managed to solve one the most difficult problems of mathematics, Fermat’s Last Theorem.

The theorem, which is also called a conjecture, formulated by French mathematician Pierre Fermat, in his 1637 work on arithmetic and the theory of number entitled Arithmethica. The theorem, which has puzzled even the most brilliant minds for over three centuries is this: there are not three positive integers that can satisfy the equation aⁿ + bⁿ = cⁿ  , for any integer that is greater than two.

According to Wiles’s statement, after years and years of research, countless nights burning the midnight oil, the professor managed to solve this equation using modular forms, Galois representations and elliptic curves.

When asked about what sparked this crusade to solve a 300-year old mystery, the Oxford math teacher, who in now in his sixties, answered that ever since he was a child, he dreamt about that someday he will be able to crack open this rather tough egg.

Growing up in Cambridge, the future professor of mathematics spend his childhood researching and solving mathematical riddles. When the reporters asked the professor to recall the first time he heard about Fermat and his theorem, Wiles said that while paying a visit to the local library, he spotted a book about Fermat’s theorems.

And ever since that day, the professor added, he spent every waking moment trying to figure out a solution to the theorem. After years of work, in 1994, the professor managed to find an answer to his arduous question.

Now, in 2016, the Norwegian Academy of Sciences and Letters wants to celebrate the lifetime work of the brilliant professor, who managed to outwit countless generations of scholars, mathematicians and scientists.

For his contribution to the field of mathematics, the Oxford professor will receive the Abel Prize, the mathematical counterpart of the Nobel Prize, during a grand ceremony, which will be attended by Kron Prinz Hakkon von Norwegen.

In retrospective, the math teacher said that he takes great proud in his contribution, and hopes that his discovery will fuel a new era in the field of advanced mathematics.

^{Photo credits:wikipedia}