Undergraduate Mathematics Students
Thursday, January 22: The abc conjecture (and pizza!)
Come enjoy this week's SUM Series talk:
The abc conjecture
Alina Duca
Thursday, January 22, 2009
3:00--3:50 p.m.
Harrelson 330
It is often the case in number theory, that a reasonable question is very easy to ask yet extremely difficult or even impossible to answer.
The most famous example, of course, is Fermat’s Last Theorem, the proof of which eluded mathematicians for more than 300 years.
In recent years a problem has arisen for which the search for a proof might turn out to be as turbulent as Fermat’s Last Theorem.
The abc conjecture was formulated in 1985 by J.Oesterle and D.Masser.
It is very easy to state, yet nonetheless has far-reaching implications throughout number theory; and it is probable that if a proof is found, it too will
have deep consequences beyond the conjecture itself.
In mathematics it is often possible to translate a problem from one area to another, in the hope that the resulting question is easier to tackle and offers insight for the original.
We will discuss first the abc conjecture for polynomials, then we will see how this theorem can be translated into the abc conjecture about ordinary integers.
Check out the SUM Series website for more information on the SUM Series.
TELL YOUR FRIENDS!
Posted at 10:15AM Jan 21, 2009 by nreadin in General | Comments[0]