Sums of Squares and Golden Gates - Hilldale Lecture in the Physical Sciences
Peter Sarnak, Eugene Higgins Professor of Mathematics, Princeton University, and Permanent Faculty Member at the Institute for Advanced Study
Event Details
Date
Thursday, May 5, 2016
Time
6 p.m.
Location
1310 Plenary Room, Grainger Hall
Description
Reception: 4:45-6:00 pm, East Atrium, Grainger Hall
A classical question in number theory asks which positive integers can be represented as sums of two, three, or four squares. This was studied and solved in the 17th and 18th centuries by Fermat, Gauss, and Lagrange. It is an elementary question, but exploring it leads to many beautiful mathematical structures. In 1900, Hilbert challenged the mathematical community to extend these results to a general quadratic equation.
A classical question in number theory asks which positive integers can be represented as sums of two, three, or four squares. This was studied and solved in the 17th and 18th centuries by Fermat, Gauss, and Lagrange. It is an elementary question, but exploring it leads to many beautiful mathematical structures. In 1900, Hilbert challenged the mathematical community to extend these results to a general quadratic equation.
Cost
Free