Prize for solving math problem, A Texas banker is upping the ante to $1 million for whoever solves a tricky problem that's been dogging mathematicians since the 1980s.
The Providence, Rhode Island-based American Mathematical Society (AMS) on Tuesday said $1 million will be awarded for the publication of a solution to the Beal Conjecture number theory problem.
The Providence, Rhode Island-based American Mathematical Society (AMS) on Tuesday said $1 million will be awarded for the publication of a solution to the Beal Conjecture number theory problem.
Dallas banker D. Andrew Beal first offered the Beal Prize in 1997 for $5,000. Over the years, the amount has grown.
AMS spokesman Michael Breen says a solution is more difficult than the one for a related problem - Fermat's Last Theorem - which didn't have a published solution for hundreds of years.
Mr Beal is a self-taught mathematician and founder of the Beal Prize. He says he wants to inspire young people to pursue math and science.
An AMS-appointed committee will award this prize for either a proof of, or a counterexample to, the Beal Conjecture, published in a refereed and respected mathematics publication.
The prize money is being held in trust by the AMS until it is awarded.
Income from the prize fund is used to support the annual Erdős Memorial Lecture and other activities of the Society.
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