A Mathematical Monster
The Mathematician slowly turned to see if Alexa was toying with him. Was it really time to get up already? He was having a lucid dream about Danica Patrick. They were eating lunch at a picturesque sidewalk café when he was rudely interrupted.
“Alexa, good morning. Thank you for waking me up at the exact moment Danica was about to tell me some sort of secret. She waved me closer to her and was about to whisper in my ear when…”
“Sorry, I’m not sure about that.”
“Yeah, you and me both.“
The Mathematician slowly sat up. His feet found his slippers, and he trudged into the bathroom for his morning ritual. He looked closely at himself in the mirror. Have I aged a day or perhaps more? He pressed his fingers against the skin near his eyes and moved in closer. I guess a day is about right, don’t look much different than I did yesterday.
At that moment, a ghoul appeared in the upper right corner of the mirror. Its countenance was that of a determined and poised demon bent on havoc. It shook its head in disappointment when The Mathematician did not react.
The ghoul came through the mirror and took a more or less human form. It tapped its cane on the bathroom sink and looked The Mathematician directly in the eye.
“I know you have many questions, but I do not care to address those at this time. All you need to know is that my colleagues and I have come to an understanding. Unfortunately, our decision impacts you in a most severe way.“
The Mathematician shook his head and turned toward the shower. “Do your worst. I have been dealing with specters like you for a long time. You don’t scare me.”
When The Mathematician pulled back the shower curtain, the ghoul was in the tub, pretending to wash his face with a bar of soap.
“Well, you are the first of your kind I have ever seen who could manipulate material objects like that. What are you, exactly?”
“Oh, I assure you, you have never come across anything like me. I am what you would call a higher-level apparition. Entities of my ilk only reveal ourselves for momentous occasions.”
“What is so special about this visit?”
“Ah, I am afraid that I have an unwelcome message for you. It has been determined, not without thoughtful debate, that the human race has one month to resolve The Riemann Hypothesis or else.”
“Or else what?”
“We are going to take your home for our own. You and all those like you will be tossed into history’s garbage bin. There won’t be any evidence any of you ever existed.”
“What? What are you talking about?”
“Resolution or extermination,” said the figure as it glided back to the sink.
“Wait…”
With that, the ghoul retreated back into the mirror. The Mathematician, confused and disoriented, reached for the sink to balance himself. He was reeling as he lost his bearings and fell, his ear cut by the sink corner. He collected himself and tried to stand. He made it to his knees before his energy gave out, and he landed back on the floor. He pulled a piece of toilet paper out of the garbage can and pressed it against his bleeding ear. He sat silently, his brain working hard to try to figure out what just happened.
The Riemann Hypothesis? Well…that was unexpected. The most brilliant people in the world have been trying to resolve that problem for what, 150 years or so. It can’t be done in a month, probably can’t be done at all.
The Mathematician thought back to when his brain was nimble, and the possibilities were near limitless. He still had a box of all his failed attempts to prove the Riemann problem. He kept a hard drive, somewhere, documenting all his elusive tries at a counterexample.
As he struggled to get up, he called out, “Alexa, what just happened in here?”
“Sorry, I couldn’t understand.”
“I know. I don’t understand either.”
He walked back to the bedroom and sat down on the bed. He grabbed his phone and immediately noticed the messages and the calls. As he scrolled through the texts, he quickly realized he wasn’t the only person to get a strange visit. Friends and colleagues from around the world were texting similar experiences, all dealing with an apparition and a request concerning The Riemann Hypothesis.
He turned his phone ringer on and immediately got a call.
“Hello.”
“Yeah, me too.”
“I don’t understand any of this.”
“OK, what time? Send me the link, and I’ll jump on. I don’t have to tell you, but if this is real, we are in an awful situation.”
The Mathematician set the phone down on the bed and leaned back. I wonder if I go back to sleep will things be different? Can I wake up to a different day? Will the ghoul choose not to appear? Is there a different reality, maybe of the parallel variety, waiting for me if I go back to sleep? He considered the possibilities and then got back up.
Later that morning, an online meeting was held with many of the top mathematicians in the world. All of them had been visited by the mysterious entity, and the warning was consistent, resolve Riemann or go extinct. For reasons not entirely clear, everyone intruded upon by the apparition took the threat seriously. As for the others, the non-mathematical types who were not paid a visit, not so much. No one believed the mathematical community when press releases were issued and pleas made through various media outlets. The mathematicians needed help, and all they got was ridicule. I suppose it is reasonable to understand why no one took them at their word. After all, the story does seem a little far-fetched, especially for those with a scientific mindset.
Of course, there were people worldwide already working on The Riemann Hypothesis. They were of no help. No one had a clever or novel approach to the problem. Even so, many tens of thousands were put to work to prove the veracity of the conjecture. It was the opinion of the vast majority that the hypothesis was indeed true. The problem was coming up with a logical, mathematical proof.
Thousands of mathematicians were tasked with trying to find a counterexample. They coded the Riemann Zeta Function and used as much computer power as they could muster in search of a result of zero where it should not be. No one was optimistic such an answer would be found.
Only a few days had passed when the mathematical community pleaded with world leaders to find the threatening ghoul and kill it. Some of the best minds in existence thought this was our only chance. The problem is too elusive for a rigorous proof, and finding a counterexample could take decades if one even exists. They were met with silence, then skepticism, then outrage.
“You would have me believe this ridiculous tale from a group of liberals?” The television announcer smirked into the camera as a third-rate mathematician sat across from him.
“Believe what you will, but I was also visited by the demon. I received that same message the others did. Either resolve it or face extermination.”
“Right, of course, you did.”
“If I may, what is the mathematical community’s angle here? If you think this is a big lie, why exactly are we lying? I know that the only thing you and people at your network can think about is money so let me ask you, how are we making money from this supposed lie?”
“Money has been pouring into math departments the world over, sent by delusional people that believe such an outrageous thing can be true. There was no demon, there is no demon, and one month from now, the sun will come up as it has every day since the creation of the sun and earth.”
“Well, the horror of all this is that you will not know if we are right. You, along with the rest of us, will simply die. It will be hard for you to understand why you are dead if you are dead. It will also be difficult to know that you are dead when you are dead.”
“If this is so important, why aren’t you working day and night on the problem? Why are you sitting smugly across from me with your little bow tie and dark glasses? Shouldn’t you be in your office scribbling away?”
“Math, especially this kind of math, is a young man’s game. I cannot offer any help or guidance. I, like many mathematicians, do not have a clue how to solve the problem. It is well beyond my diminished capacity.”
“Explain it to us. Tell us about this Reimann Hypothesis.”
“Well, I imagine if the problem could be understood by a person like you, its answer wouldn’t be valuable enough to the power that wants to destroy us. It is entirely possible that the enemy does not have the answer and needs it for some reason. Threatening us, apparently, is their best bet to achieve a mathematical resolution.”
“That doesn’t make any sense.”
“None of this does.”
Exactly one month after the demon’s arrival, the sun came up, and people the world over shook their heads and mocked the disgraced mathematical community. Clearly a case of mass hysteria, some said. Others wondered why such a cruel prank would be played on innocent populations.
As the sun started to set, people began to disappear. Those still alive did not believe what was happening on the other side of the world. They laughed. Most were smug. Some prayed. The majority of the mathematicians were resigned to their fate. They had done all they could do, they worked as hard as they could, they gave maximum effort. There is nothing else they could have done. In the end, it was of little consolation.
