Can Every Mathematical Problem Be Solved?

Overview

Abstract of the talk: There are many open problems in mathematics, and from time to time, a famous open problem is solved (a good example of this is Fermat’s last theorem). Should we expect that every open problem will eventually be solved? Gödel’s incompleteness theorem says that every rich enough mathematical system contains a problem that cannot be settled in the given system. Does that mean that there are problems that are inherently unsolvable? These are the issues that we shall explore in this talk, which will be accessible to a wider audience.

Menachem Magidor is professor of mathematics at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem in Israel. He specializes in mathematical logic, in particular in set theory and the application of logic to artificial intelligence. He served as the president of the Hebrew University (1997–2009) and as the president of the Association of Symbolic Logic (1996–1998). He is currently the president of the International Union of History and Philosophy of Science and Technology.