Timeline for How would you have answered Richard Feynman's challenge?
Current License: CC BY-SA 4.0
10 events
| when toggle format | what | by | license | comment | |
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| Dec 21, 2021 at 2:36 | comment | added | Jorge Zuniga | Pari GP makes the magic here ---> gp > isprime(2^11239-1) time = 438 ms. %1 = 0 (So it is not) then 2^11213-1 is prime | |
| Dec 6, 2021 at 20:43 | comment | added | Florian F | A theorem is a true-or-false question. I propose the theorem that the number of primes below 1 million is even. I can prove it or disprove it (even though it is a bit lengthy). | |
| Dec 6, 2021 at 20:29 | comment | added | Nuclear Hoagie | @DougSpoonwood It doesn't matter. According to the assumption, the answer to one implies the answer to the other, so there is only one independent question. Regardless, any multiple choice question can be encoded as a series of true/false questions. If the premise is that X belongs to exactly one of sets A, B, or C, Feynman should be able to say if it's true that X belongs to A, or if it belongs to B, or if it belongs to C individually, ultimately answering "which one" as a series of true/false questions, which is fair game for Feynman's claim. | |
| Dec 6, 2021 at 20:03 | comment | added | Doug Spoonwood | @NuclearHoagie Why exactly did you ask if the first number was prime instead of the second? Seems like it implies two true or false questions equally so to me. | |
| Dec 6, 2021 at 17:10 | comment | added | Nuclear Hoagie | @DougSpoonwood It's trivial to turn this into a true/false question. Assumption: exactly one of $2^{11213}- 1$ and $2^{11239} - 1$ are prime. True or false: $2^{11213} - 1$ is prime and $2^{11239} - 1$ is not. | |
| Dec 6, 2021 at 15:13 | comment | added | Doug Spoonwood | Not a true or false question. "I bet there isn't a single theorem that you can tell me what the assumptions are and what the theorem is in terms I can understand where I can't tell you right away whether it's true or false." | |
| Dec 6, 2021 at 8:43 | history | made wiki | Post Made Community Wiki by Asaf Karagila♦ | ||
| Dec 6, 2021 at 8:35 | comment | added | Gerry Myerson | @Amr, if you got any mail from the Math Dept at U Illinois in the late 1960s, you would have seen it was postmarked with "$2^{11213}-1$ is prime". | |
| Dec 6, 2021 at 8:32 | comment | added | Amr | What is the answer, or where should I look for an answer :) | |
| Dec 6, 2021 at 1:54 | history | answered | Gerry Myerson | CC BY-SA 4.0 |