Number Theory Seminar
The Number Theory Seminar is a 55-minute in-person research seminar, including questions. Talks are suitable for PhD students (including new PhD students) from all fields of number theory.
The seminar is at 15:00 on Mondays (except bank holidays). On seminar days we meet for lunch at 12:30 and coffee at 16:00 in the common room. Seminars are held in B3.02 of the Zeeman building. Sometimes a different room is used, see the entry below.
Colleagues and especially number theory group members are warmly encouraged to suggest speakers by emailing the organisers: Adam Harper, Maleeha Khawaja, Akshat Mudgal.
We kindly remind members that it is polite to the speaker, to come to talks we might not personally expect to be interested in, and in compensation there will be a good audience for the speakers each of us is interested in!
A list of members of the group and research interests is available.
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19 October 2026 at 15:00 in B3.02
Speaker: Noah Kravitz (University of Oxford)
Title: The structure of sets with few subset sums
Abstract: An old result of Nathanson shows that every n-element set of positive reals has at least n(n+1)/2+1 distinct subset sums, with equality exactly for homogeneous arithmetic progressions. We establish stability versions of this inverse theorem in two regimes. First, for any parameter M at most n-4, we precisely characterize the n-element sets of positive reals with at most n(n+1)/2+1+M subset sums. Second, for any constant C, we provide a characterization, sharp up to constants, of the n-element sets of positive reals with at most Cn^2 subset sums. Joint work with Ruben Carpenter and Colin Defant.
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26 October 2026 at 15:00 in B3.02
Speaker: Hanneke Wiersema (University of Cambridge)
Title: TBA
Abstract: TBA
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16 November 2026 at 15:00 in B3.02
Speaker: Jef Laga (University of Cambridge)
Title: TBA
Abstract: TBA
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07 December 2026 at 15:00 in B3.02
Speaker: Céline Maistret (University of Bristol)
Title: TBA
Abstract: TBA
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12 October 2026 at 15:00 in B3.02
Speaker: Ben Krause (University of Bristol)
Title: Prime Number Theory at the Interface of Harmonic Analysis and Ergodic Theory
Abstract: Prime number theory has played a central role in problems in pointwise ergodic theory, dating back to the work of Bourgain, and continuing to the present day. In this talk, we discuss some modern work in this direction, in which the operators in question incorporate an additional symmetry beyond the classical examples, and accordingly higher-order Fourier-analytic methods are required.
Click on a title to view the abstract!