The Riemann Hypothesis

The million-dollar question

An interactive lesson with 6 steps, about 5 minutes: you predict, drag and solve, with instant feedback on every answer. It runs in your browser and needs JavaScript.

What you’ll learn

• Riemann linked the primes to the zeros of the zeta function, $\zeta(s)$.
• The hypothesis: all nontrivial zeros have real part $\tfrac12$.
• It would pin down the error in prime counting. Unproved, with a $1M prize.

Steps

1. The music of the primes
2. What’s at stake?
3. Primes inside the zeta function
4. Counting to 1000
5. Counting the primes
6. Evidence