Difficult Math Question - Earth Empires Forum

Rockman

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3388

Dec 5th 2010, 22:10:28

Can every even number greater than two be written as the sum of two prime numbers? If yes, provide a valid proof. If no, provide a counterexample.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Prime_number

"Despite being intensely studied, there remain some open questions around prime numbers which can be stated simply. For example, Goldbach's conjecture which asserts that any even natural number bigger than two is the sum of two primes, or the twin prime conjecture which says that there are infinitely many twin primes (pairs of primes whose difference is two), have been unresolved for more than a century, notwithstanding the simplicity of their statements."

wonder if Goldbach provided any proof or if it's simply conjecture.

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Dibs Ludicrous

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Dec 5th 2010, 23:00:19

this conjecture has been verified up to 2 * 10 ^ 10.

wonder how long we're going to have to rely on this antiquated arabic numbering system which fails to represent reality...

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BobbyATA

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Dec 5th 2010, 23:05:19

Proof by induction:
Base case:
2=1+1

Now assume true for x=y+z, with y,z prime and prove for x+2.

The rest should be pretty obvious so I'm just gonna stop here... Let me know if you need more details Rockman, I know u can be a bit slow at times:P

hanlong

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Dec 5th 2010, 23:05:27

you can't prove this, because there is no formula to represent the series of prime.

if you have a f(x) = blahblahblah then it would be trivial to prove, but there's none for primes

if you are talking about proofs involving things like marseinne primes which has a formula to it, then its provable

Don Hanlong
Don of La Famiglia

BobbyATA

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Dec 5th 2010, 23:10:05

actually thats not true hanlong. You can prove, for an example of a nontrivial statement about the primes, that the primes contain arbitrarily long arithmetic progressions. Perhaps the Goldbach conjecture is beyond the scope of modern mathematics by a far margin, but thats different than being impossible to prove.

Dibs Ludicrous

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Dec 5th 2010, 23:15:30

you didn't prove it, it was still conjecture even though it was taken out to 2 * 10 ^ 10 in Mathematics Dictionary 5th Edition.

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Dibs Ludicrous

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Dec 5th 2010, 23:15:53

dumbass brainiacs.

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BobbyATA

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Dec 5th 2010, 23:16:27

how can you say I didn't prove it when I posted my proof above? Do you not understand a certain part of it, perhaps I can explain in more detail

Dibs Ludicrous

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Dec 5th 2010, 23:19:06

no perhaps about it, you are certainly capable of explaining it in more detail, why don't you try doing that instead of trying to tickle my ass with peafluff feathers?

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Dibs Ludicrous

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Dec 5th 2010, 23:20:08

oh, btw, it's any number greater than 2...

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Rockman

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Dec 5th 2010, 23:20:09

"you can't prove this"

That statement has not been proven, hanlong.

The Continuum Hypothesis has been proven to be unprovable in ZF and ZFC set theory. It is probably the best example of proving a statement to be unprovable. But if your assertion is that the goldbach conjecture is unprovable, then you must provide a proof that it is unprovable.

I'm a constructivist mathematician, along the lines of Brower and Godel, so my standards for proof are extremely rigid.

Dibs Ludicrous

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Dec 5th 2010, 23:28:48

here's my proof that you're talking out of your ass...

http://en.wikipedia.org/...i/Goldbach%27s_conjecture

when y'all going to fix it so it recognizes the complete url?

oh, and is that enough proof that it hasn't been proven yet? or do i have to find something more recent?

Edited By: Dibs Ludicrous on Dec 5th 2010, 23:31:18
See Original Post

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Dibs Ludicrous

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Dec 5th 2010, 23:35:16

if you want to baffle me with bullcrap, you're going to have to adopt Callypigian's method. just post too much google junk for me to take the time to analyze.

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hanlong

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Dec 5th 2010, 23:49:21

well at least its a bigger pain in the ass to prove ;P

Don Hanlong
Don of La Famiglia

Dibs Ludicrous

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Dec 5th 2010, 23:49:50

oops, so, BobbyATA, you're claiming that you solved a 100 year old question with what you posted here... oh my, you're going to share the Nobel Peace prize with the likes of Al Gore and the IPCC.

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Tertius

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Dec 6th 2010, 0:03:27

aww Dolphin. Wasn't he in Omega? Did anyone ever try to get him to play again?

Dibs Ludicrous

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Dec 6th 2010, 0:15:17

http://forums.joltonline.com/...info-for-Earth-2025-peeps

i don't think so.

i remember that he kinda went inactive when a christian friend or mentor of his died, but i couldn't find that post.

Edited By: Dibs Ludicrous on Dec 6th 2010, 0:20:08
See Original Post

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Fooglmog

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Dec 6th 2010, 0:26:09

Why are you posting number theories unsolved problems here? If a century of math's greatest minds have not been able to solve this question, the people on this forum won't be able to.

-Fooglmog
Guy with no clue.

BobbyATA

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Dec 6th 2010, 0:56:45

dibs: I was just joking in my post...I also find it kinda funny you asked if Goldbach proved his conjecture or not, and tehn 10 posts into this thread seemed to realize what the word conjecture meant lol

Rockman

Member
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Dec 6th 2010, 3:59:11

Fooglmog - because I thought some of the attempts at proofs might be entertaining. Unfortunately, none of them turned out to be.

I also thought I might get someone to try and find a counterexample, without looking on the internet to realize that a supercomputer has already tested all even numbers under 1,000,000,000,000,000,000 and not found a counterexample. And that didn't happen either.

SakitSaPuwit

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Dec 6th 2010, 8:02:24

this one time at Stat camp.....

but what do i know?
I only play this game for fun!

Dibs Ludicrous

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Dec 6th 2010, 8:22:36

Originally posted by BobbyATA:

well, i am a crazy drunk.

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martian

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Dec 6th 2010, 13:41:38

bobby that doesn't work as a proof because every second number isn't a prime. Nice try though.

next we prove that 0 = 1!
:P

you are all special in the eyes of fluff
(|(|
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RUN IT IS A KILLER BUNNY!!!

Detmer

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Dec 6th 2010, 15:12:31

Originally posted by martian:

bobby that doesn't work as a proof because every second number isn't a prime. Nice try though.

next we prove that 0 = 1!
:P

I'll settle for 1 = 0!

;)

Tertius

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Dec 6th 2010, 16:21:59

nice math pun detmer =P

Fooglmog

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Dec 6th 2010, 17:50:56

Originally posted by martian:

bobby that doesn't work as a proof because every second number isn't a prime. Nice try though.

next we prove that 0 = 1!
:P

I'd love to see that.

-Fooglmog
Guy with no clue.

Rufus

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Dec 6th 2010, 18:06:33

Originally posted by martian:

next we prove that 0 = 1!
:P

0 = !1
Fact. ;)

I am John Galt.

gwagers

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Dec 7th 2010, 0:42:36

As long as the home team gets another goal in the next three minutes...

Wait, I'm reading that wrong. nm

Peloponnese (PEHL-oh-puh-NEES): a mythical land of cheesecake

"We cannot enter into alliance with neighboring princes until we are acquainted with their designs..."--Sun Tzu

Who has time for that? BLAST THEM ALL!

mrford

Member
21,358

Dec 7th 2010, 19:20:05

So if you put an airplane on a treadmill.......

Swagger of a Chupacabra

[21:37:01] <&KILLERfluffY> when I was doing FA stuff for sof the person who gave me the longest angry rant was Mr Ford

Tertius

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Dec 7th 2010, 19:40:51

and suppose there are snakes on this plane (on a treadmill), slithering at some constant velocity, and we wish to keep them stationary relative to the ground (at least for some short moment of time)...

gwagers

Member
1065

Dec 8th 2010, 0:44:42

You bait them with x amount of sacrificial passengers, with x increasing for the number of snakes and the velocity at which they are slithering (a larger pile will attract their attention more easily than a smaller one, and they might think it's more worthwhile to stop and investigate).

H4xOr WaNgEr

Forum Moderator
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Dec 8th 2010, 1:17:47

considering that the proof that 1+1 = 2 is over 200 pages long... I'm going to say that this would be a long one.

martian

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Dec 8th 2010, 18:37:15

1 = 1 = 1 + 0 + 0 + 0 + 0 .. = 1 +(- 1+ 1)+ (-1+1)+(-1+1)+.. = (1-1) + (1-1) + (1-1) + (1-1)+...=0 + 0 + 0 + 0 +...
=0
therefore 1=0
LARRRRR
:P

you are all special in the eyes of fluff
(|(|
( ._.) -----)-->
(_(' )(' )

RUN IT IS A KILLER BUNNY!!!

martian

Game Moderator
Mod Boss
7828

Dec 8th 2010, 18:37:44

btw proving that the sequence of prime numbers is infinite is easier:P

you are all special in the eyes of fluff
(|(|
( ._.) -----)-->
(_(' )(' )

RUN IT IS A KILLER BUNNY!!!