> Hou and Luo’s work was suggestive, but not a true proof. That’s because it’s impossible for a computer to calculate infinite values. It can get very close to seeing a singularity, but it can’t actually reach it — meaning that the solution might be very accurate, but it’s still an approximation.
I feel certain that if you run a process that approaches infinity using ordinary floating-point numbers, you will actually reach infinity. This is a case ("can a calculation yield an infinite result?") where computers have less of a problem than people do.
You'd have to deal with the question of whether the infinite value accurately reflected an infinite limit of the process or whether it was spurious. But there's no difficulty in calculating infinite values.
I feel certain that if you run a process that approaches infinity using ordinary floating-point numbers, you will actually reach infinity. This is a case ("can a calculation yield an infinite result?") where computers have less of a problem than people do.
You'd have to deal with the question of whether the infinite value accurately reflected an infinite limit of the process or whether it was spurious. But there's no difficulty in calculating infinite values.