Advanced Topics in Algebra: The Arithmetic of Elliptic Curves
The study of elliptic curves has fascinated mathematicians for the last 120 years.
It is the meeting place of algebra, number theory, and analysis. There's something for everyone. It combines hands-on computational with deep theoretical implications. Elliptic curves played a central role in Wiles' proof of Fermat's Last Theorem. They are used in factoring algorithms and elliptic curve cryptosystems have become the backbone of credit card and internet transactions. If you want to become rich and famous The Clay Institute has put a $1 million bounty on the Birch and Swinnerton-Dyer Conjecture which connects the algebraic and analytic theory of elliptic curves. (MATH 0302; Approval required) 3 hrs. sem.