Editing Conjecture (section)

{{short description|Proposition in mathematics that is unproven}}
{{for|text reconstruction|Conjecture (textual criticism)}}
[[File:RiemannCriticalLine.svg|thumb|350px|The real part (red) and imaginary part (blue) of the Riemann zeta function along the critical line Re(''s'') = 1/2. The first non-trivial zeros can be seen at Im(''s'') = ±14.135, ±21.022 and ±25.011. The [[Riemann hypothesis]], a famous conjecture, says that all non-trivial zeros of the zeta function lie along the critical line.]]

In [[mathematics]], a '''conjecture''' is a [[Consequent|conclusion]] or a [[proposition]] that is proffered on a tentative basis without [[mathematical proof|proof]].<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/conjecture|title=Definition of CONJECTURE|website=www.merriam-webster.com|language=en|access-date=2019-11-12}}</ref><ref>{{cite book|title=Oxford Dictionary of English|edition=2010}}</ref><ref>{{cite book|last1=Schwartz|first1=JL|title=Shuttling between the particular and the general: reflections on the role of conjecture and hypothesis in the generation of knowledge in science and mathematics.|date=1995|page=93|publisher=Oxford University Press |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=JyKelnvECc4C&q=%22although+counterpoint+between+the+particular+and+the+general%22&pg=PA93|isbn=9780195115772}}</ref> Some conjectures, such as the [[Riemann hypothesis]] or [[Fermat's conjecture]] (now a [[theorem]], proven in 1995 by [[Andrew Wiles]]), have shaped much of mathematical history as new areas of mathematics are developed in order to prove them.<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://mathworld.wolfram.com/FermatsLastTheorem.html|title=Fermat's Last Theorem|last=Weisstein|first=Eric W.|website=mathworld.wolfram.com|language=en|access-date=2019-11-12}}</ref>