Geometric Langlands conjecture: Unbelievable maths proof is so advanced that just about nobody can clarify it

Mathematicians have proved a key constructing block of the Langlands programme, typically known as a “grand unified theory” of maths as a result of deep hyperlinks it proposes between seemingly distant disciplines throughout the area.

Whereas the proof is the fruits of many years of labor by dozens of mathematicians and is being hailed as a blinding achievement, it is usually so obscure and sophisticated that it’s “impossible to explain the significance of the result to non-mathematicians”, says Vladimir Drinfeld…