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354 bytes removed ,  00:56, August 7, 2008
True, but it's not relevant.
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An '''elementary proof''' or '''elementary technique''' in mathematics is a [[proof]] that uses only [[real numbers]] or [[real analysis]] rather than the use of [[complex analysis]].<ref>http://mathworld.wolfram.com/ElementaryProof.html</ref> Elementary proofs cannot be broken down into smaller proofs of the same proposition.
 
An '''elementary proof''' or '''elementary technique''' in mathematics is a [[proof]] that uses only [[real numbers]] or [[real analysis]] rather than the use of [[complex analysis]].<ref>http://mathworld.wolfram.com/ElementaryProof.html</ref> Elementary proofs cannot be broken down into smaller proofs of the same proposition.
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The [[Prime Number Theorem]] has long been proven using complex analysis ([[Riemann Zeta function]]), but in 1949 and 1950 an elementary proof by [[Paul Erdos]] and [[Atle Selberg]] earned Selberg the highest prize in math, the [[Fields Medal]]. In contrast, [[Andrew Wiles]]' proof of [[Fermat's Last Theorem]] did not use elementary techniques. Wiles was awarded an honorary silver plate by the [[International Mathematical Union]] for his exceptional work.<ref>http://www.mathunion.org/medals/Fields/Prizewinners.html</ref>
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The [[Prime Number Theorem]] has long been proven using complex analysis ([[Riemann Zeta function]]), but in 1949 and 1950 an elementary proof by [[Paul Erdos]] and [[Atle Selberg]] earned Selberg the highest prize in math, the [[Fields Medal]]. In contrast, [[Andrew Wiles]]' proof of [[Fermat's Last Theorem]] did not use elementary techniques.
He was ineligible to be awarded the Fields Medal, which is awarded only to mathematicians no older than 40.<ref>http://www.princeton.edu/pr/news/98/q3/0827-wiles.html</ref>)
      
===Sources===
 
===Sources===
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