Russian reclusive math genius Grigory Perelman did not appear in Paris on Tuesday to collect his $1 million prize for solving a problem that has puzzled scientists for over a century.
In March 2010, the Clay Mathematics Institute (CMI) of Cambridge, Massachusetts, announced that Perelman, 43, would be awarded the prize for proving the Poincare conjecture, one of seven problems on the institute's Millennium Prize list.
CMI President James Carlson said on Tuesday he could not explain why the mathematician ignored the event in his honor and that he was waiting for Perelman to decide if he wants the money or not.
According to Carlson, the money will be sent to a charity foundation if Perelman does not claim it within one year.
The conjecture, which was first proposed by Henri Poincare in 1904, says that the three-sphere is the only type of bounded three-dimensional space possible that contains no holes.
Perelman presented proofs on the conjecture in 2002 and 2003. Several high-profile teams of mathematicians have since verified the correctness of his proof.
In 2006, Perelman refused to attend a congress in Madrid where he was to receive a Fields Medal, often called the Nobel Prize of mathematics.
Perelman, who lives in a small apartment in St. Petersburg with his elderly mother, is unemployed and neighbors say he lives in poverty. He has rejected job offers at several top U.S. universities.
PARIS, June 8 (RIA Novosti)
