1/29: Professor Holley Friedlander, “The Riemann Hypothesis”

Please join us for the first Undergraduate Math Seminar of the semester!  We will be meeting Wednesday, 5:30-6:30 in LGRT 1528 (note the room change). This week, former PhD student, Professor Holley Friedlander (Williams College), will speak on, “The Riemann Hypothesis” (abstract below). As always, pizza and soda will be provided.

 

Abstract:

In 1859 Bernhard Riemann proposed what is now considered one of the most important unsolved problems in pure mathematics. The Riemann hypothesis is one of the Clay Mathematics Institute Millennium Prize Problems — a proof (or disproof) carries a one million dollar cash prize! At the heart of this famous conjecture is the Riemann zeta function. In this talk, we introduce the Riemann zeta function from a historical perspective before stating the Riemann hypothesis and exploring number theoretic implications. If time permits, we will travel to a magical land where the Riemann hypothesis is true.