UWO Mathematics Professor David Penniston

Monday March 5, 2018

4:10-5:10 pm

Swart 217

 

In the last twenty-five years modular forms have held a prominent place in number theory research. Most famously they played a central role in Andrew Wiles’ proof of Fermat’s Last Theorem, a problem that remained unsolved for over 300 years. In this talk we will explore how modular forms were used to answer a question that arose in my own research, a process that involved a good bit of detective work and offered some interesting twists and turns. The talk will be aimed at a general audience, and no knowledge of modular forms will be assumed – the only prerequisite is an interest in mathematics.