Thread by @mpoessel

Atiyah has promised this to be accessible to non-mathematicians. #HLF18

On volumes of published work, Euler definitely beats Riemann, 73:1. #HLF18

"Solve the Riemann hypothesis, and you become famous; if you're already famous, you become infamous." #HLF18

Today's #HLF18 film tip is "The man who knew infinity," which Atiyah says is enjoyable even if one is not partial to prime numbers.

Those of us not still thinking about why Hardy was holding an umbrella in sunshine are now invited to think about the different collar styles of Hadamard and Selberg, and also about immortality. #HLF18

Also, quaternions. #HLF18

The most succinct beautiful formula in mathematics. The mathematical equivalent of "To be or not to be", short and deep. #HLF18

Afraid that at this pace, though enjoyable, we might indeed be heading for "I have found a beautiful proof, but it is too long to fit into this 45 minute talk". #HLF18

The plural of genius might be genii, but it sounds confusingly like Djinn. Also, there is no conservation law for geniusses. #HLF18

Also, the button for the laser pointer was unfortunately close to the button for jumping back to the first slide. We're back on track now, though. #HLF18

When you do something, you want to do things beautifully. Sometimes, this involves choosing a kyrillic letter such as "zh". #HLF18

Now we are getting to the meat of the matter, the Todd function. A "very very clever function" that maps Euler's equation to its quaternionic generalization, and is defined by an infinite iteration of exponentials. #HLF18

Infinite iterations are dangerous territory, but von Neumann tells Atiyah it's OK, and Atiyah is taking von Neumann's word for it. So that's apparently alright then. "Magnificent animal", the Todd function. #HLF18

Atiyah didn't set out to prove the Riemann Hypothesis. He was trying to derive the fine structure constant (yes, that thing from physics). The RH was just a bonus. #HLF18

After Atiyah had found the fine structure constant value, he put his feet up, opened the champagne, and realized he had accidentally proved the Riemann Hypothesis. #HLF18

Incidentally, here is the proof. You're welcome. #HLF18

The audience is getting some homework. #HLF18

First question from audience: will Atiyah claim the Millenium problem prize? Atiyah says: yes, he deserves the prize. #HLF

Also, Atiyah will now retire. #HLF18

Uh-oh. Question from audience about when this will be published. Atiyah claims ageism, says his papers will be rejected before he is too old. This is problematic. #HLF18

Also, Atiyah claims that people are unfairly dismissive of new ideas - in this case, the weird infinite series of series thingy that defines the Todd function. #HLF18

So, let's not get carried away. Next, we need a write-up of the proof. Say, something like this: drive.google.com/open?id=17NBIC… (thanks to Thilo Kuessner for the pointer). #HLF18

Then, a peer-reviewed article. Peer review in pure mathematics tends to be rigorous - after all, you cannot ask a peer reviewer in physics to repeat the experiment described, but you *can* ask a mathematics reviewer to check each step of a proof. #HLF18

And needless to say, in this case, a reviewer had better be very, very thorough. That pesky Todd function really has it coming, for sure. Von Neumann or not. #HLF18

Also, the Clay Institute has very appropriately set the bar even higher. Not only does your proof need to be published in a peer reviewed top journal. They then wait 2 years. #HLF18

An "If any mathematician know of any impediment why this article author should not receive our prize, let them speak up within two years or forever keep their peace" sortof thing. #HLF18

So even in the optimal case, we will need to wait for two years to be really sure. #HLF18

Of course, someone might point out troubles with Atiyah's working horse, the Todd function, before that. #HLF18

Something like this *has* happened before, we should point out.

https://twitter.com/johncarlosbaez/status/1043996167149768704

So let's see what happens. This morning's talk sure was entertaining. Let's wait and see whether it was more than that. #HLF18

This concludes my live coverage. As they say, I'll be here all week. #HLF18

If nothing else, giving a talk like that basically ensures that you will not get any coffee in the next coffee break. #HLF18

Final disclaimer: I'm an astrophysicist who, for his sins, was a theoretical physicist in a previous incarnation. (Never mind the causality here.) So no, I don't have knowledge about this that goes much deeper than these flippant tweets. #HLF18

*because, not before.

Since this thread has gained some traction: What do you think, then? Is what we saw today going to turn out to be a genuine proof of the Riemann Hypothesis?

Looking back, Atiyah's was a really enjoyable #HLF18 lecture. But a lecture is not a paper, so the appearance of

Step 1: Cool mathematics ideas
Step 2: ?
Step 3: Proved it

was probably unavoidable. He could have told us something more about the Todd function, though.