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let’s not ignore the practical side. Algorithms for studying primes drive advances in computing, machine learning, and data science. Cryptography literally depe
by Babawomba 2y ago
let’s not ignore the practical side. Algorithms for studying primes drive advances in computing, machine learning, and data science. Cryptography literally depends on them. Plus, big unsolved problems like the Riemann hypothesis could completely reshape number theory.
Green and Sawhney’s work is especially exciting because it shows how tools from one field—Gowers norms—can unlock progress in another. That kind of cross-disciplinary insight is where breakthroughs happen. And yeah, it’s fair to question funding priorities, but basic research has given us antibiotics, GPS, and even computers. Without it, we’d still be in caves.
- math_dandy 2y agoCryptanalysis relies on deep conjectural heuristics in analytic number theory. These conjectures becoming theorems wouldn't affect cryptanalysis at all, because their validity is already baked in. If, however, any of these conjectures turn out to be false, there would be ramifications.