Hodge ༧ Deligne ͷίϝϯτ I began by saying that I had found a new proof of the period implication of the Chowla Selberg formula, using some techniques from algebraic geometry. Deligne immediately asked, in all seriousness, if I had proved the Hodge conjecture. I replied that I would be delighted to hear that I had done so, as I was still looking for a thesis topic (and felt that a proof of the Hodge conjecture would probably be sufficient).