Junior Number Theory Seminar
Hello,
Welcome to Warwick's Junior Number Theory Seminar, where graduate students in the area of Number Theory give accessible talks about topics they are interested in, and share the outcomes of their research with their peers.
This term, all talks will be held in B3.01 at 11 am on Monday (except when stated otherwise).
Do you want to give a talk in this seminar? Let us know :)
This seminar is organised by Alvaro Gonzalez HernandezLink opens in a new window, James RawsonLink opens in a new window and Katerina SanticolaLink opens in a new window. If you have any question, do not hesitate to get in contact with us (if possible, when you send us an email please add all of us as recipients)!
Term 2
Date |
Speaker |
Affiliation |
Title |
Week 1 - 8th January |
Kenji Terao | University of Warwick | Isolated points on modular curves |
Week 2 - 15th January | Sven Cats | University of Cambridge | Higher descent on elliptic curves |
Week 3 - 22nd January | Cedric Pilatte | University of Oxford | Graph eigenvalues and the logarithmic Chowla conjecture in degree 2 |
Week 4 - 29th January | Sebastien Monnet | University College London | Nonabelian number fields with prescribed norms |
Week 5 - 5th February | Yan Yau Cheng | University of Edinburgh | Arithmetic Chern Simons Theory |
Week 6 - 12th February | Jackie Vorhos | University of Bristol | On the average least negative Hecke eigenvalue |
Week 7 - 19th February | Khalid Younis | University of Warwick | The distribution of smooth numbers |
Week 8 - 26th February | Seth Hardy | University of Warwick | Exponential sums with random multiplicative coefficients |
Week 9 - 4th March | TBA | TBA | TBA |
Week 10 - 11th March | TBA | TBA | TBA |
Abstracts (Term 2)
Week 1 - 8th January
Kenji Terao (University of Warwick) - Isolated points on modular curves
As is well known, Faltings's theorem settles the question of determining when a curve, defined over a number field, has infinitely many rational points. However, Faltings's work can also be used to understand when such a curve has infinitely many higher degree points, a study which gives rise to the notion of isolated points. In this talk, we will study some techniques for finding isolated points on curves, and see how they can be applied to the more structured world of modular curves.
Week 2 - 15th January
Sven Cats - Higher descent on elliptic curves
Let $E$ be an elliptic curve over a number field $K$ and $n \geq 2$ an integer. We recall that elements of the $n$-Selmer group of $E/K$ can be written as certain $n$-coverings of $E/K$. Writing the elements in this way is called conducting an explicit $n$-descent. One of the applications of explicit $n$-descent is in finding generators of large height for $E(K)$ and from this point of view one would like to be able to take $n$ as large as possible. Already for $n \geq 5$ it is computationally challenging to apply the known algorithms for explicit $n$-descent. We discuss two ways around this: Improving a $p$-isogeny descent to a $p$-descent and combining $n$- and $(n+1)$-descents to $n(n+1)$-descent.
Week 3 - 22nd January
Cedric Pilatte - Graph eigenvalues and the logarithmic Chowla conjecture in degree 2
The Liouville function $\lambda(n)$ is defined to be +1 if $n$ is a product of an even number of primes, and -1 otherwise. The statistical behaviour of $\lambda$ is intimately connected to the distribution of prime numbers. In many aspects, the Liouville function is expected to behave like a random sequence of +1 and -1. For example, the two-point Chowla conjecture predicts that the average of $\lambda(n)\lambda(n+1)$ over $n < x$ tends to zero as $x$ goes to infinity. In this talk, I will discuss quantitative bounds for a logarithmic version of this problem.
Week 4 - 29th October
Sebastien Monnet - Nonabelian number fields with prescribed norms
Let α be a rational number and let Σ be a family of number fields. For each number field K in Σ, either α is a norm of K, or it is not. We might ask for what proportion of K in Σ that is the case. We will see that this is a natural question to ask, and that it is extremely hard in general. For an abelian group A, the case Σ = {A-extensions} was solved by Frei, Loughran, and Newton. We will discuss new results for the simplest class of nonabelian extensions: so-called "generic" number fields of a given degree.
Week 5 - 5th February
Yan Yau Cheng - Arithmetic Chern Simons Theory
Mazur first observed in the 60s a deep analogy between the embedding of a knot in a 3-manifold and primes in a number field. Witten showed that knot invariants can be obtained by computations from quantum field theory. Using ideas from this analogy, Minhyong Kim and his collaborators developed the study of arithmetic field theories. This talk will be an introduction to Arithmetic Field Theories, in particular focusing on Arithmetic Chern-Simons Theory.
Week 6 - 12th February
Jackie Vorhos - On the average least negative Hecke eigenvalue
In this talk we discuss the first sign change of Fourier coefficients of newforms, or equivalently Hecke eigenvalues. We will see this to be an analogue of the least quadratic non-residue problem, of which the average was investigated by Erdős in 1961. In fact, we will see that the average least negative prime Hecke eigenvalue holds the same (finite) value as the average least quadratic non-residue, under GRH. This is mainly due to the fact that Hecke eigenvalues at primes are equidistributed with respect to the Sato-Tate measure, a consequence of the Sato-Tate conjecture that was proven in 2011. We further explore the so-called vertical Sato-Tate conjecture to show the average least Hecke eigenvalue has a finite value unconditionally.
Week 7 - 19th February
Khalid Younis - The distribution of smooth numbers
A number is said to be y-smooth if all of its prime factors are at most y. In much the same way as one studies primes, one can ask how many smooth numbers there are less than a large quantity x, whether they are spread evenly among arithmetic progressions, or how they are distributed in short intervals. In this talk, we will address some of these questions, with a focus on recent work on short intervals. In doing so, we will explore the connection with zeros of the Riemann zeta function.
Week 8 - 26th February
Seth Hardy - Exponential sums with random multiplicative coefficients
The study of exponential sums with multiplicative coefficients is classical in analytic number theory. For example, understanding exponential sums with coefficients given by the Liouville function would offer profound insights into the distribution of primes in arithmetic progressions. Unfortunately, our current understanding of these sums is far from what we expect to be the truth. In this talk, we will explore an alternative approach: considering exponential sums with random multiplicative coefficients. We will introduce the relevant theory and discuss recent progress in proving conjecturally sharp lower bounds for the size of a large proportion of these exponential sums.
Week 9 - 4th March
TBA - TBA
TBA
Week 10 - 11th March
TBA - TBA
TBA
Term 1
Date |
Speaker |
Affiliation |
Title |
Week 1 - 2nd October | No Talk | ||
Week 2 - 9th October | Abdul Alfaraj | University of Bath | On the finiteness of perfect powers in elliptic divisibility sequences |
Week 3 - 16th October | Isabel (Izzy) Rendell | King's College London | Rational points on modular curves |
Week 4 - 23rd October | Arshay Sheth | University of Warwick | The Hilbert-Polya dream: finding determinant expressions of zeta functions |
Week 5 - 30th October | Maryam Nowroozi | University of Warwick | Perfect Powers in Elliptic Divisibility Sequences |
Week 6 - 6th November | Alexandros Konstantinou | University College London | Unveiling the power of isogenies: From Galois theory to the Birch and Swinnerton-Dyer conjecture |
Week 7 - 13th November | Amelia Livingston | University College London | The Langlands correspondence for algebraic tori |
Week 8 - 20th November | Robin Ammon | University of Glasgow | Cohen--Lenstra Heuristics for Ray Class Groups |
Week 9 - 27th November | Benjamin Bedert | University of Oxford | On Unique Sums in Abelian Groups [Rescheduled] |
Week 10 - 4th December | Harvey Yau | University of Cambridge | An introduction to the Brauer-Manin obstruction |
Abstracts (Term 1)
Week 2 - 9th October
Abdul AlfarajLink opens in a new window (University of Bath) - On the Finiteness of Perfect Powers in Elliptic Divisibility Sequences
Elliptic divisibility sequences are sequences generated by the denominators of the y-coordinates of multiples of some fixed rational point on an elliptic curve defined over the rational numbers. We prove that there are finitely many perfect powers in elliptic divisibility sequences generated by a non-integral point on elliptic curves belonging to a certain family. We achieve this by using the modularity of elliptic curves over real quadratic number fields. This work was part of my MASt project at Warwick, which was supervised by Samir Siksek.Week 3 - 16th October
Isabel (Izzy) RendellLink opens in a new window (King's College London) - Rational points on modular curves
The problem of finding rational points on modular curves is of great interest in number theory and arithmetic geometry, with many different methods in use in the subject. This will be an introductory talk where will see some key related theorems due to Faltings, Coleman and Mazur. I will discuss some methods for finding rational points, and how they can relate to other areas such as points on elliptic curves and the congruent number problem. Throughout the talk I will try and assume as few prerequisites as possible and demonstrate methods by examples.
Week 4 - 23th October
Arshay ShethLink opens in a new window (University of Warwick) - The Hilbert-Polya dream: finding determinant expressions of zeta functions
The Hilbert-Polya dream, which seeks to express the Riemann zeta function as a characteristic polynomial of an operator on a Hilbert space, is one possible approach to prove the Riemann Hypothesis. While this approach has never been successfully carried out, its core principle- finding determinant expression of zeta functions- has manifested itself in several different areas of number theory in the last century. In this talk, we will attempt to give a panoramic survey of the Hilbert-Polya dream.
Week 5 - 30th October
Maryam NowrooziLink opens in a new window (University of Warwick) - Perfect Powers in Elliptic Divisibility Sequences
The problem of determining all perfect powers in a sequence has always been interesting to mathematicians. The problem we are interested in is to prove that there are finitely many perfect powers in elliptic divisibility sequences. Abdulmuhsin Alfaraj proved that there are finitely many perfect powers in elliptic divisibility sequences generated by a non-integral point on elliptic curves of the from $y^2=x(x^2+b)$, where $b$ is any positive integer. The main goal of our project is to generalize this result for elliptic divisibility sequences generated by any non-integral point on all elliptic curves$y^2=x^3+ax^2+bx+c$. This is a joint work with Samir Siksek.
Week 6 - 6th November
Alexandros KonstantinouLink opens in a new window (University College London) - Unveiling the power of isogenies: From Galois theory to the Birch and Swinnerton-Dyer conjecture
In this talk, we have a two-fold aim. Firstly, we illustrate a method for constructing isogenies using basic Galois theory and representation theory of finite groups. By exploiting the isogenies thus constructed, we shift our focus to the second aspect of our talk: the investigation of ranks of Jacobians with emphasis on predictions made by the Birch and Swinnerton-Dyer conjecture. Finally, we showcase the utility of our approach for studying ranks through various applications. These include a unified framework for studying classical isogenies and ranks, as well as a new proof for the parity conjecture for elliptic curves defined over number fields. This is joint work with V. Dokchitser, H. Green and A. Morgan.
Week 7 - 13th November
Amelia Livingston (University College London) - The Langlands correspondence for algebraic tori
This talk is an introduction to the easiest case of the Langlands correspondence. The correspondence "for $\mathrm{GL}_1$" reduces to class field theory, and using elementary techniques from group cohomology, Langlands extended this from $\mathrm{GL}_1$ to any algebraic torus. This setting involves no analysis, and provides a friendly first look at a couple of the objects involved in more general cases of the Langlands program.
Week 8 - 20th November
Robin AmmonLink opens in a new window (University of Glasgow) - Cohen--Lenstra Heuristics for Ray Class Groups
Even though it is an important object in number theory, for a long time the structure of the ideal class group of a number field seemed very mysterious. To get a better understanding of it, H. Cohen and H. Lenstra started to study the statistical behaviour of class groups, taking a new perspective in number theory. They realised that the behaviour appears to be governed by a fundamental principle about the distribution of random mathematical objects, and made influential conjectures about the distribution of ideal class groups known as the Cohen--Lenstra heuristics.
In my talk, I will give an introduction to the Cohen--Lenstra heuristics and discuss the ideas of arithmetic statistics and the fundamental principle that underlie them. I will then talk about work in progress that aims to generalise Cohen and Lenstra's conjectures to ray class groups.
Week 9 - 27th November
Benjamin BedertLink opens in a new window (University of Oxford) - On Unique Sums in Abelian Groups
In this talk, we will study the old problem in additive combinatorics of determining for a finite Abelian group $G$ the size of its smallest subset $A\subset G$ that has no unique sum, meaning that for every two $a_1,a_2\in A$ we can write $a_1+a_2=a'_1+a'_2$ for different $a'_1,a'_2\in A$. We begin by using classical rectification methods to obtain the previous best lower bounds of the form $|A|\gg \log p(G)$. Our main aim is to outline the proof of a recent improvement and discuss some of its key notions such as additive dimension and the density increment method. This talk is based on Bedert, B. On Unique Sums in Abelian Groups. Combinatorica (2023).
Week 10 - 4th December
Tsz Kiu Harvey YauLink opens in a new window (University of Cambridge) - An introduction to the Brauer-Manin obstruction
To study the rational points on a variety, one useful tool is to study it over a completion of the rationals, and in many cases this suffices to prove there are no rational points. However, sometimes this method is insufficient to prove the nonexistence of rational points, and many such examples have been found over the years. The Brauer-Manin obstruction provides a general explanation for these examples, and was first described by Y. Manin. This talk will give an introduction to the topic and construct some explicit examples of the obstruction on curves and surfaces.