The Poincaré Conjecture, proposed by Henri Poincaré in 1904, asserts that every simply connected, closed 3-manifold is homeomorphic to the 3-sphere . This conjecture remained unproven for nearly a century until it was finally resolved by the Russian mathematician Grigori Perelman in the early 2000s. His proof built on Richard S. Hamilton's theory of Ricci flow, which involves smoothing the geometry of a manifold over time. Perelman's groundbreaking work showed that, under certain conditions, the topology of the manifold can be analyzed through its geometric properties, ultimately leading to the conclusion that the conjecture holds true. The proof was verified by the mathematical community and is considered a monumental achievement in the field of topology, earning Perelman the prestigious Clay Millennium Prize, which he famously declined.
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