Grigori Perelman

Grigori 'Grisha' Perelman isRussian mathematician whoan expert on Ricci flow. Untilfall2002, he was best knownhis workcomparison geometry, proving several notable results, such as CheegerGromoll's Soul Conjecture.

However,November 2002, he e-published on arXivfirst ofseriespapers purportingprove Thurston's Geometrization Conjecture. His planattack liesmodifying Richard Hamilton 's programgeometrization through Ricci flow. Compared tomore direct, topological programs (notablydiffering approachesW.P. Thurston, J.W. Cannon,D. Gabai), this Ricci flow approach appears particularly promising at this stage.

Perelman's workstill under review bymathematical community, asMay 27, 2003.

External links:

CNN: Russian may have solved great math mystery