Scientists at a conference in the UK have warned of serious repercussions for e-commerce and cryptography from the possible resolution of a 150-year old mathematical theory.
In a paper published in June, Louis de Branges, a French-born mathematician at Purdue University in the US, claimed to have proved the Riemann hypothesis, which seeks to explain the apparently random pattern of prime numbers. Such numbers are the key to Internet cryptography, which is used to secure Web transactions. Proof of the hypothesis would mean that all cryptic codes could be breakable, so no Internet transaction would be safe.
Speaking at the British Association science festival in Exeter yesterday, Professor Marcus du Sautoy of Oxford University, said: "The whole of e-commerce depends on prime numbers. If the Riemann hypothesis is true...the proof should give us more understanding of how the primes work. If it does, it will bring the whole of e-commerce to its knees, overnight. So there are very big implications."
No need to panic just yet, however, as boffins remain unconvinced that de Brange has proved the theory. According to UK broadsheet the Guardian, Oxford University's du Sautoy described de Branges' formulation as "rather incomprehensible".