four months ago, i was absolutely delighted that one of my ideas might be applicable to a special case of a conjecture,
that is, someone else's conjecture.
i didn't formulate it myself;
i wasn't even a mathematician at the time!
lately i've been slightly depressed, and this is why:
i can't seem to prove the conjecture in full generality.
That's at least something, a contribution. I think as a new step it's more properly measured by how difficult it is rather than how widely it can be generalized.
ReplyDeletei wouldn't say that it's particularly hard .. then again, it mightn't be the first thing which comes to mind.
ReplyDelete[shrugs]
eye of the beholder, i suppose.