Fermat's Last Theorem

  • March 16, 2017
  • 3:00 PM - 5:10 CST
  • Piper Hall and Cuneo Hall, Room 210
  • Aaron Lauve, alauve@luc.edu
  • Open to the public.
  • http://www.luc.edu/math/Colloquium.shtml
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  • Details

    Dr. Ken Ribet, Berkeley professor, distinguished lecturer, celebrated number theorist, and president of the American Mathematical Society, will visit us on Thursday 3/16 to deliver the Rataj Lecture in the Mathematical Sciences.

    Reception: 3:00 p.m. in Piper Hall; Refreshments will be available.

    Lecture 1: 4:00 p.m. in Cuneo 210.
    Famously stated in the margins of his copy of Diophantus' Arithmetica in 1637, Fermat's Last Theorem may hold the record for longest unproven mathematical theorem. It certainly holds the record for most captivating--amateur and professional mathematicians alike worked in vain to prove his theorem over the next 350 years. Dr. Ribet will take us on a gentle tour of the history of this problem, from antiquity to 1994. (It was Ribet's 1986 proof of Serre's epsilon conjecture that paved the way for Andrew Wiles' proof of FLT in 1994. Never fear; among the traits of a master lecturer is knowing when to suppress technical details.) This talk will be accessible to students in calculus.

    Lecture 2: 5:10 p.m., Cuneo 210.
    After the main lecture of about 50-60 minutes, Dr. Ribet will give a 35-40 minute presentation on the history and contribution of Sophie Germain to FLT. This shorter talk will be aimed more at faculty and students who have seen some number theory at the level of our MATH 201.