perhaps it is time.

[i wrote this 4-5 days ago but was sidetracked by family matters]

yesterday i was math-walking .. which is a little like sleep-walking, except instead of being asleep i was distracted by mathematical thoughts.

i've had this germ of an idea. the first version, which came to me more than a week ago, clearly doesn't work, but aspects of it had merit ..

this morning i woke up at 7am [1], and i couldn't go back to sleep because i was too excited.

the idea can be modified,
it must be able to work ..

so i thought about it, then latexed it, and things seemed to "click" together .. which is fine, but not worth celebrating yet.


[now]

i've had too many occasions when things are looking really promising, only to discover a gap in the proof of a lemma leading to the result. (it's why i try to avoid saying that "i proved something" because initially, it's never fully clear whether there is enough rigor ..)

this time around, there is a difference. i think the idea is robust enough that i'm willing to discuss it with others;

maybe, with a few more pairs of eyes looking at it, the argument can be modified, clarified, optimised .. and i'll get the right proof.



[1] which is early-ish for me. these days i wake at 7:45am or so, if only because my father, who is retired, is up and about at 10am. that affords me two hours or so of work time, without interruption.