Modular Forms and Related Topics

Total Page:16

File Type:pdf, Size:1020Kb

Modular Forms and Related Topics U.U.D.M. Project Report 2021:13 Modular Forms and Related Topics Linnea Rousu Examensarbete i matematik, 30 hp Handledare: Wolfgang Staubach Examinator: Magnus Jacobsson Juni 2021 Department of Mathematics Uppsala University ABSTRACT This thesis is a study of modular forms and related topics. It begins with some necessary background information on the modular group, SL2(Z), and the fundamental domain. Following that, modular functions are presented. These functions are invariant under the action of the modular group and are then generalized to modular forms. As an example of modular forms, the Eisenstein series is derived. Thereafter, Hecke operators are discussed. They are defined as averaging operators over a suitable collection of double cosets with respect to a group. This chapter contains a section about Hecke operators on modular forms. The final part of the thesis covers Dirichlet series, which are series of arithmetic functions. An interesting connection to modular forms is discovered. Acknowledgements First and foremost I would like to thank my supervisor, Wulf Staubach for all his help and guidance. I am very grateful that he has taken the time to supervise me. I would also like to thank Alexander Söderberg for his support and the discussions we have had throughout the process. Additionally I would like to thank my family for all the support throughout the years. Furthermore I am grateful to all the teachers who have inspired me to study mathematics. I would also like to thank my classmates for making the years at university memorable. 3 Contents 1 Introduction4 2 Modular group5 3 Fundamental domain7 4 Modular functions9 5 Modular forms 12 5.1 Eisenstein series...................... 17 6 Hecke operators 23 6.1 Introduction........................ 23 6.2 Hecke operators...................... 23 6.3 Hecke operators on periodic functions.......... 25 6.4 Hecke operators on modular forms............ 28 7 Dirichlet series 32 7.1 Introduction........................ 32 7.2 Dirichlet series and modular forms............ 33 7.3 The half plane of absolute convergence.......... 35 7.4 The function defined by a Dirichlet series........ 36 7.5 Multiplication of Dirichlet series............. 38 7.6 Euler products....................... 40 7.7 The half-plane of convergence of a Dirichlet series.... 42 7.8 Analytic properties of Dirichlet series.......... 44 7.9 Dirichlet series with non-negative coefficients...... 45 7.10 Analytic continuation................... 46 7.11 Mean value formulas for Dirichlet series......... 48 7.12 An integral formula for the coefficients of a Dirichlet series 49 4 1 Introduction Historically the study of modular functions (Swe: "modulära funktioner") started in 19th century where they first appeared in the theory of elliptic functions, more specifically as elements of the function field of an elliptic curve. The term goes back to Peter Gustav Lejeune Dirichlet, although the functions also occurred in the works of Carl Friedrich Gauss, Niels Henrik Abel and Carl Gustav Jacobi (in connection to his work on theta functions). Later, they also played a significant role in the works of Leopold Kronecker, Gotthold Eisenstein and Karl Weierstrass. Towards the end of 19th centry, modular functions became a crucial source of inspiration for Felix Klein and Henri Poincaré in the development of the theory of automorphic functions. Indeed the theory of Riemann surfaces became an important tool in this context, and it was Klein who used the term "Modulform" for the first time. A sys- tematic study of modular forms on SL2(Z) and its congruence subgroups, was made by Erich Hecke in 1925, and this established the modular forms as an independent discipline within function theory and analytic number theory. Modular forms are used in several mathematical topics due to their geometrical, arithmetical and topological properties. For example topological modular forms is currently a topic of big interest in research. We will now present some applications of modular forms, based on [8]. In the proof of Fermat’s last theorem, Andrew Wiles uses modular forms exten- sively. Additionally, from this proof new techniques were developed to solve certain diophantine equations. These developments relied on having access to tables or software for computing modular forms. Modular forms are actually used in cryptography and coding theory. More specif- ically, to construct elliptic curve cryptosystems one wants to count the number of points on the elliptic curves. In order to do so there are point counting algorithms which use modular forms. Furthermore, algebraic forms associated to modular forms are used in certain error-correcting codes. This essay is a compendium of modular forms and related topics. Our goal is to make it as self-contained as possible and to include the details which explain the theory. In order to read this essay one should be familiar with abstract algebra, Fourier series, functional analysis and theory of integration on a basic level, as well as complex analysis on an advanced level. We will begin this essay with section2, covering the modular group, which is the integer subgroup of the special linear group. Most of the mathematics in the following will be done on this group, or on some subgroup. In section3 we present the fundamental domain; given a topological space and a group Γ0 acting on it, a fundamental domain is a subspace (of the topological space) containing exactly one point of each Γ0−equivalence class. Section4 covers modular functions which are functions invariant under the modular group and meromorphic on H [ f1g. The 5 modular functions are then generalized to modular forms in section5. These forms are, in the most basic case, modular functions holomorphic on H [ f1g. Following that, we derive a famous example of modular forms, called Eisenstein series in 5.1. In section6 we discuss the properties of the so called Hecke operators. These act as averaging operators over a certain collection of double cosets with respect to a group. They arose from Hecke’s theory on classifying the modular forms having multiplicative Fourier coefficients. In this chapter we also discuss the properties of Hecke operators on modular forms. Section7 covers the Dirichlet series, which are series of arithmetic functions. These series are central in the theory of analytic num- ber theory. For example, the famous Riemann zeta function is actually a Dirichlet series. The chapter begins with an interesting connection between modular forms and Dirichlet series. We show that there is a one-to-one correspondence between certain modular forms and Dirichlet series satisfying a specific functional equation. 2 Modular group The following chapter is based on [5] and [7]. The special linear group SL2(R) = a b : a; b; c; d 2 ; ad − bc = 1 acts on the complex upper half plane = c d R H az+b fz 2 C : Im(z) > 0g by linear fractional transformations as γz = cz+d for a b γ = 2 SL2( ): The action is indeed a group action. Firstly, since if c d R a b γ = 2 SL2( ) and z 2 , then c d R H az + b (az + b)(cz + d) γz = = cz + d (cz + d)(cz + d) (bcz + adz) + (aczz + bd) = (1) (cz + d)(cz + d) acjzj2 + bd + 2bc Re(z) + z = : jcz + dj2 Therefore the imaginary part of γz is ad − bc Im (z) Im (γz) = Im (z) = > 0: (2) jcz + dj2 jcz + dj2 Thus SL2(R) × H ! H. Secondly, for the identity element I we have that 1 · z Iz = = z: 1 6 Thirdly, the action also satisfies the compatibility condition, i.e. (aa~ + bc~)z + (a~b + bd~) (γγ~)z = = γ(~γ(z)) (~ac + dc~)z + (~bc + dd~) a b a~ ~b for all γ = ; γ~ = 2 SL2( ) and z 2 : The transformations de- c d c~ d~ R H scribed above are also called Möbius transformations, which one may recognize from complex analysis. A particular discrete subgroup of SL2(R) plays a fundamental role in various branches of mathematics and physics and is called the modular group. Definition 2.1. The modular group Γ(Swe: "den modulära gruppen") is the group a b of all matrices for a; b; c; d 2 such that ad − bc = 1. c d Z We also note that changing the sign of γ 2 Γ does not change the action. Since, a b if γ = 2 Γ, then we have c d −az − b az + b −γz = = = γz: (3) −cz − d cz + d 0 1 Theorem 2.2. The modular group Γ is generated by S = and T = −1 0 1 1 ; i.e every A 2 Γ can be expressed as A = T n1 ST n2 S : : : ST nk for n 2 0 1 j Z; j = 1; : : : ; k. Proof. Since S; T 2 Γ we have that hS; T i ⊆ Γ where hS; T i is the span of S and T . 1 x It remains to show that Γ ⊆ hS; T i: We have T x = 2 hS; T i for x 2 : 0 1 Z 1 x 1 0 So N := ; x 2 g ⊆ hS; T i: Since S−1T −yS = we also have 0 1 Z y 1 1 0 a b that N := ; y 2 ⊆ hS; T i: Now let be an arbitrary element of y 1 Z c d a b a b Γ. We want to show that 2 hS; T i as well. First note that S−1 S = c d c d d −c ; and so without loss of generality we may assume that jaj jdj : −b a 6 a b 1 x a ax + b Next observe that = . We may therefore assume c d 0 1 c cx + d that 0 6 b < jaj : 1 0 a b a b We also have that = : Hence we may assume y 1 c d ay + c by + d that 0 6 c < jaj : 7 a b Since 2 Γ we have that ad and bc are integers such that ad − bc = 1: c d 2 2 By the assumptions on the matrix elements we have that jadj > a and jbcj < a : a b 1 0 Therefore we must have ad = 1 and bc = 0; which means that = ± 2 c d 0 1 N ⊆ hS; T i: Thus an arbitrary element of Γ is in hS; T i; so Γ ⊆ hS; T i: Now we would like to study the induced maps of the generators of Γ.
Recommended publications
  • The Cambridge Mathematical Journal and Its Descendants: the Linchpin of a Research Community in the Early and Mid-Victorian Age ✩
    View metadata, citation and similar papers at core.ac.uk brought to you by CORE provided by Elsevier - Publisher Connector Historia Mathematica 31 (2004) 455–497 www.elsevier.com/locate/hm The Cambridge Mathematical Journal and its descendants: the linchpin of a research community in the early and mid-Victorian Age ✩ Tony Crilly ∗ Middlesex University Business School, Hendon, London NW4 4BT, UK Received 29 October 2002; revised 12 November 2003; accepted 8 March 2004 Abstract The Cambridge Mathematical Journal and its successors, the Cambridge and Dublin Mathematical Journal,and the Quarterly Journal of Pure and Applied Mathematics, were a vital link in the establishment of a research ethos in British mathematics in the period 1837–1870. From the beginning, the tension between academic objectives and economic viability shaped the often precarious existence of this line of communication between practitioners. Utilizing archival material, this paper presents episodes in the setting up and maintenance of these journals during their formative years. 2004 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved. Résumé Dans la période 1837–1870, le Cambridge Mathematical Journal et les revues qui lui ont succédé, le Cambridge and Dublin Mathematical Journal et le Quarterly Journal of Pure and Applied Mathematics, ont joué un rôle essentiel pour promouvoir une culture de recherche dans les mathématiques britanniques. Dès le début, la tension entre les objectifs intellectuels et la rentabilité économique marqua l’existence, souvent précaire, de ce moyen de communication entre professionnels. Sur la base de documents d’archives, cet article présente les épisodes importants dans la création et l’existence de ces revues. 2004 Elsevier Inc.
    [Show full text]
  • Early History of the Riemann Hypothesis in Positive Characteristic
    The Legacy of Bernhard Riemann c Higher Education Press After One Hundred and Fifty Years and International Press ALM 35, pp. 595–631 Beijing–Boston Early History of the Riemann Hypothesis in Positive Characteristic Frans Oort∗ , Norbert Schappacher† Abstract The classical Riemann Hypothesis RH is among the most prominent unsolved prob- lems in modern mathematics. The development of Number Theory in the 19th century spawned an arithmetic theory of polynomials over finite fields in which an analogue of the Riemann Hypothesis suggested itself. We describe the history of this topic essentially between 1920 and 1940. This includes the proof of the ana- logue of the Riemann Hyothesis for elliptic curves over a finite field, and various ideas about how to generalize this to curves of higher genus. The 1930ies were also a period of conflicting views about the right method to approach this problem. The later history, from the proof by Weil of the Riemann Hypothesis in charac- teristic p for all algebraic curves over a finite field, to the Weil conjectures, proofs by Grothendieck, Deligne and many others, as well as developments up to now are described in the second part of this diptych: [44]. 2000 Mathematics Subject Classification: 14G15, 11M99, 14H52. Keywords and Phrases: Riemann Hypothesis, rational points over a finite field. Contents 1 From Richard Dedekind to Emil Artin 597 2 Some formulas for zeta functions. The Riemann Hypothesis in characteristic p 600 3 F.K. Schmidt 603 ∗Department of Mathematics, Utrecht University, Princetonplein 5, 3584 CC
    [Show full text]
  • LONG-TERM HISTORY and EPHEMERAL CONFIGURATIONS Catherine Goldstein
    LONG-TERM HISTORY AND EPHEMERAL CONFIGURATIONS Catherine Goldstein To cite this version: Catherine Goldstein. LONG-TERM HISTORY AND EPHEMERAL CONFIGURATIONS. Interna- tional Congress of Mathematicians, Aug 2018, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. pp.487-522. hal-02334505 HAL Id: hal-02334505 https://hal.archives-ouvertes.fr/hal-02334505 Submitted on 29 Oct 2019 HAL is a multi-disciplinary open access L’archive ouverte pluridisciplinaire HAL, est archive for the deposit and dissemination of sci- destinée au dépôt et à la diffusion de documents entific research documents, whether they are pub- scientifiques de niveau recherche, publiés ou non, lished or not. The documents may come from émanant des établissements d’enseignement et de teaching and research institutions in France or recherche français ou étrangers, des laboratoires abroad, or from public or private research centers. publics ou privés. LONG-TERM HISTORY AND EPHEMERAL CONFIGURATIONS CATHERINE GOLDSTEIN Abstract. Mathematical concepts and results have often been given a long history, stretching far back in time. Yet recent work in the history of mathe- matics has tended to focus on local topics, over a short term-scale, and on the study of ephemeral configurations of mathematicians, theorems or practices. The first part of the paper explains why this change has taken place: a renewed interest in the connections between mathematics and society, an increased at- tention to the variety of components and aspects of mathematical work, and a critical outlook on historiography itself. The problems of a long-term history are illustrated and tested using a number of episodes in the nineteenth-century history of Hermitian forms, and finally, some open questions are proposed.
    [Show full text]
  • Gotthold Eisenstein and Philosopher John
    Gotthold Eisenstein and Philosopher John Franz Lemmermeyer Abstract Before the recent publication of the correspondence between Gauss and Encke, nothing was known about the role that John Taylor, a cotton merchant from Liverpool, had played in the life of Gotthold Eisenstein. In this article, we will bring together what we have discovered about John Taylor’s life. Eisenstein’s Journey to England Gotthold Eisenstein belonged, together with Dirichlet, Jacobi and Kummer, to the generation after Gauss that shaped the theory of numbers in the mid- 19th century, and like Galois, Abel, Riemann, Roch and Clebsch, Eisenstein died young. Today, Eisenstein’s name can be found in the Eisenstein series, Eisenstein sums, the Eisenstein ideal, Eisenstein’s reciprocity law and in his irreducibility criterion, and he is perhaps best known for his ingenious proofs of the quadratic, cubic and biquadratic reciprocity laws. Eisenstein’s father Jo- hann Konstantin Eisenstein emigrated to England in 1840; Eisenstein and his mother followed in June 1842, although Eisenstein’s few remarks on this episode in his autobiography [3] belie the dramatic events that he experienced in Eng- land. On their journey to England, the Eisensteins passed through Hamburg; during the Great Fire in May 1842 about a third of the houses in the Altstadt had burned down. What we learn from Eisenstein’s account is that he was impressed by the sight of railroad lines running right under the foundations of houses (in London?) and by the Menai suspension bridge in Wales: Eisenstein mentions that he undertook six sea voyages, and that on one of them they sailed arXiv:2101.03344v1 [math.HO] 9 Jan 2021 under the tremendous suspension bridge in Anglesey, which was so high that the Berlin Palace would easily have fitted under its main arch.
    [Show full text]
  • Math Retreat 2021
    Welcome to the 30th Annual Retreat of the UW-Eau Claire Mathematics Department. This year we feature mathematical talks given by faculty anD stuDents in the morning. Zoom “Table Groups” During the lunch hour proviDe an opportunity to catch up with the speakers anD frienDs. In the afternoon, the 11th annual AnDrew Balas Lecture, An Introduction to Spatial Graph Theory, will be presenteD by Dr. Erica Flapan. This is followeD by an electrifying, heart-breaking, brain-splitting mathematics competition for stuDents! 2 Zoom Room 1 https://uwec-edu.zoom.us/j/86063628229?pwd=ZVpka3RtdjRkQng2M1Mrc1EvTjJXQT09 Meeting ID: 860 6362 8229 Passcode: 897620 8:30-8:50 Madelyn St. Pierre Cryptarithms! 9:00-9:20 Mackenzie Lenz Patterns of Binary 9:30-9:50 Shelby DesJardin Don’t limit your possibilities 10:00-10:20 Abbie Groppe & Bryce Your Solution May Be the Problem Johnson 10:30-10:50 Allie Gorman You Can't Beat the Odds 11:00-11:20 Kaitlyn Gerndt The Monty Hall Problem and Bayes' Theorem 11:30-11:50 Grace Liebl Expanding on The Goat Problem 12:00-12:20 Katelin Nelson October Primes Zoom Room 2 https://uwec-edu.zoom.us/j/82139457644?pwd=Zy9KSllOczMvWW9jU3hqT0NOejY5QT09 Meeting ID: 821 3945 7644 Passcode: math2021 8:30-8:50 Dan Guyer & Lily Leith A Search for Primitive Roots in the Eisenstein Integer Ring 9:00-9:20 Joe McCausland & Jack Galois Theory and Groups of Field Extensions Saunders 9:30-9:50 Dan Guyer & Lily Leith An Introduction to Cyclotomic Polynomials 10:00-10:20 Gabriel Hamilton A Closer Look at the Josephus Problem 10:30-10:50 Amanda Rolf
    [Show full text]
  • View This Volume's Front and Back Matter
    i i “IrvingBook” — 2013/5/22 — 15:39 — page i — #1 i i 10.1090/clrm/043 Beyond the Quadratic Formula i i i i i i “IrvingBook” — 2013/5/22 — 15:39 — page ii — #2 i i c 2013 by the Mathematical Association of America, Inc. Library of Congress Catalog Card Number 2013940989 Print edition ISBN 978-0-88385-783-0 Electronic edition ISBN 978-1-61444-112-0 Printed in the United States of America Current Printing (last digit): 10987654321 i i i i i i “IrvingBook” — 2013/5/22 — 15:39 — page iii — #3 i i Beyond the Quadratic Formula Ron Irving University of Washington Published and Distributed by The Mathematical Association of America i i i i i i “IrvingBook” — 2013/5/22 — 15:39 — page iv — #4 i i Council on Publications and Communications Frank Farris, Chair Committee on Books Gerald M. Bryce, Chair Classroom Resource Materials Editorial Board Gerald M. Bryce, Editor Michael Bardzell Jennifer Bergner Diane L. Herrmann Paul R. Klingsberg Mary Morley Philip P. Mummert Mark Parker Barbara E. Reynolds Susan G. Staples Philip D. Straffin Cynthia J Woodburn i i i i i i “IrvingBook” — 2013/5/22 — 15:39 — page v — #5 i i CLASSROOM RESOURCE MATERIALS Classroom Resource Materials is intended to provide supplementary class- room material for students—laboratory exercises, projects, historical in- formation, textbooks with unusual approaches for presenting mathematical ideas, career information, etc. 101 Careers in Mathematics, 2nd edition edited by Andrew Sterrett Archimedes: What Did He Do Besides Cry Eureka?, Sherman Stein Beyond the Quadratic Formula, Ronald S.
    [Show full text]
  • A History of Stickelberger's Theorem
    A History of Stickelberger’s Theorem A Senior Honors Thesis Presented in Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for graduation with research distinction in Mathematics in the undergraduate colleges of The Ohio State University by Robert Denomme The Ohio State University June 8, 2009 Project Advisor: Professor Warren Sinnott, Department of Mathematics 1 Contents Introduction 2 Acknowledgements 4 1. Gauss’s Cyclotomy and Quadratic Reciprocity 4 1.1. Solution of the General Equation 4 1.2. Proof of Quadratic Reciprocity 8 2. Jacobi’s Congruence and Cubic Reciprocity 11 2.1. Jacobi Sums 11 2.2. Proof of Cubic Reciprocity 16 3. Kummer’s Unique Factorization and Eisenstein Reciprocity 19 3.1. Ideal Numbers 19 3.2. Proof of Eisenstein Reciprocity 24 4. Stickelberger’s Theorem on Ideal Class Annihilators 28 4.1. Stickelberger’s Theorem 28 5. Iwasawa’s Theory and The Brumer-Stark Conjecture 39 5.1. The Stickelberger Ideal 39 5.2. Catalan’s Conjecture 40 5.3. Brumer-Stark Conjecture 41 6. Conclusions 42 References 42 2 Introduction The late Professor Arnold Ross was well known for his challenge to young students, “Think deeply of simple things.” This attitude applies to no story better than the one on which we are about to embark. This is the century long story of the generalizations of a single idea which first occurred to the 19 year old prodigy, Gauss, and which he was able to write down in no less than 4 pages. The questions that the young genius raised by offering the idea in those 4 pages, however, would torment the greatest minds in all the of the 19th century.
    [Show full text]
  • Gotthold Eisenstein English Version
    GOTTHOLD EISENSTEIN (April 4, 1823 – October 11, 1852) by HEINZ KLAUS STRICK , Germany The mathematics historian MORITZ CANTOR reported that in 1877, shortly before his death, CARL FRIEDRICH GAUSS said that there had only been three epoch-making mathematicians: ARCHIMEDES , NEWTON and EISENSTEIN . We cannot be sure that GAUSS really said this, but it can be concluded from many other statements of the Princeps Mathematicorum that he had a high opinion of EISENSTEIN . This brilliant mathematician died when he was only 29 years old and one can only guess what achievements he could have accomplished if he had not died so early. Even as a child, GOTTHOLD EISENSTEIN was often ill. The oldest son of a Berlin merchant barely survived a meningitis infection, but remained susceptible to illness for the rest of his short life. All five siblings born after him died at an early age, four of them from meningitis. His consistently poor physical condition prevented him from playing in the streets with children of the same age. His mother anxiously looked after his well-being, teaching him the letters of the alphabet when he was only two years old. The arithmetic lessons in the first years of school bored him, because he could not understand why, for example, multiplication had to be practised for days. In contrast, he liked anything that challenged his logical thinking. Because of his state of health, he was sent to the countryside for a few months, which, however, set him back in his school development. At the age of ten, EISENSTEIN moved to a boarding school in rural Charlottenburg (which only became part of Berlin from 1920).
    [Show full text]
  • AN OVERVIEW of RIEMANN's LIFE and WORK a Brief Biography
    AN OVERVIEW OF RIEMANN'S LIFE AND WORK ROSSANA TAZZIOLI Abstract. Riemann made fundamental contributions to math- ematics {number theory, differential geometry, real and complex analysis, Abelian functions, differential equations, and topology{ and also carried out research in physics and natural philosophy. The aim of this note is to show that his works can be interpreted as a unitary programme where mathematics, physics and natural philosophy are strictly connected with each other. A brief biography Bernhard Riemann was born in Breselenz {in the Kingdom of Hanover{ in 1826. He was of humble origin; his father was a Lutheran minister. From 1840 he attended the Gymnasium in Hanover, where he lived with his grandmother; in 1842, when his grandmother died, he moved to the Gymnasium of L¨uneburg,very close to Quickborn, where in the meantime his family had moved. He often went to school on foot and, at that time, had his first health problems {which eventually were to lead to his death from tuberculosis. In 1846, in agreement with his father's wishes, he began to study the Faculty of Philology and Theology of the University of G¨ottingen;how- ever, very soon he preferred to attend the Faculty of Philosophy, which also included mathematics. Among his teachers, I shall mention Carl Friedrich Gauss (1777-1855) and Johann Benedict Listing (1808-1882), who is well known for his contributions to topology. In 1847 Riemann moved to Berlin, where the teaching of mathematics was more stimulating, thanks to the presence of Carl Gustav Jacob Ja- cobi (1804-1851), Johann Peter Gustav Lejeune Dirichlet (1805-1859), Jakob Steiner (1796-1863), and Gotthold Eisenstein (1823-1852).
    [Show full text]
  • Georg Friedrich Bernhard Riemann
    Georg Friedrich Bernhard Riemann By: Supervised: Sandra Hanbo Dr. Vágó Zsuzsanna Biography • Born in 17 September 1826 in Breselenz, Kingdom of Hannover (Germany now) • Father : Friedrich Bernhard Riemann. Poor Lutheran pastor • Mother: Charlotte Ebell • Wife: Elise Koch and they had a daughter Elda • Universities : University of Göttingen (1846) studying math under Gauss, University of Berlin (1847) continuing study by : Carl Gustav Jacob Jacobi, Peter Gustav Lejeune Dirichlet, Jakob Steiner, and Gotthold Eisenstein • Doctoral supervisor : Carl Friedrich Gauss • Honors awarded to Bernhard Riemann 1. Fellow of the Royal Society: 1866 2. Lunar features: Crater Riemann 3. Popular biographies list: Number 18 • Dead : 20 July 1866 in Selasca (Italy) Some of his Articles • Basics for a general theory of functions of a changeable complex Size.- 1851 • On the Number of Primes Less Than a Given –1859 • On the laws of the distribution of voltage electricity in ponderable bodies, if these are not regarded as perfect conductors or non-conductors, but as reluctant to contain voltage electricity with finite force- - 1854 • On the theory of Nobili's color rings -1855 • Contributions to the theory of the functions that can be represented by the Gaussian series F (α, β, γ,( .- 1857 • Theory of Abel's functions -1857 • About the disappearance of the theta functions - 1866 Some topics named after Riemann • Cauchy–Riemann equations • Riemann form • Riemann Geometry • Riemann mapping theorem • Riemann problem • Riemann surface • Riemann solver • Riemann's differential equation • Riemann's explicit formula Riemann surface for f(z) = z1/2. Image by Leonid 2. • Riemann's minimal surface Famous Scientists – Bernard Riemann And others … References: • Articles: • "Bernhard Riemann." Famous Scientists.
    [Show full text]
  • History of Algebra
    History of Algebra The term algebra usually denotes various kinds of mathematical ideas and techniques, more or less directly associated with formal manipulation of abstract symbols and/or with finding the solutions of an equation. The notion that in mathematics there is such a sepa- rate sub-discipline, as well as the very use of the term “algebra” to denote it, are them- selves the outcome of historical evolution of ideas. The ideas to be discussed in this article are sometimes put under the same heading due to historical circumstances no less than to any “essential” mathematical reason. Part I. The long way towards the idea of “equation” Simple and natural as the notion of “equation” may appear now, it involves a great amount of mutually interacting, individual mathematical notions, each of which was the outcome of a long and intricate historical process. Not before the work of Viète, in the late sixteenth century, do we actually find a fully consolidated idea of an equation in the sense of a sin- gle mathematical entity comprising two sides on which operations can be simultaneously performed. By performing such operations the equation itself remains unchanged, but we are led to discovering the value of the unknown quantities appearing in it. Three main threads in the process leading to this consolidation deserve special attention here: (1) attempts to deal with problems devoted to finding the values of one or more unknown quantities. In Part I, the word “equation” is used in this context as a short-hand to denote all such problems,
    [Show full text]
  • Long-Term History and Ephemeral Configurations
    LONG-TERM HISTORY AND EPHEMERAL CONFIGURATIONS CATHERINE GOLDSTEIN Abstract. Mathematical concepts and results have often been given a long history, stretching far back in time. Yet recent work in the history of mathe- matics has tended to focus on local topics, over a short term-scale, and on the study of ephemeral configurations of mathematicians, theorems or practices. The first part of the paper explains why this change has taken place: a renewed interest in the connections between mathematics and society, an increased at- tention to the variety of components and aspects of mathematical work, and a critical outlook on historiography itself. The problems of a long-term history are illustrated and tested using a number of episodes in the nineteenth-century history of Hermitian forms, and finally, some open questions are proposed. “Mathematics is the art of giving the same name to different things,” wrote Henri Poincaré at the very beginning of the twentieth century ((Poincaré, 1908, 31)). The sentence, to be found in a chapter entitled “The future of mathematics” seemed particularly relevant around 1900: a structural point of view and a wish to clarify and to firmly found mathematics were then gaining ground and both contributed to shorten chains of argument and gather together under the same word phenomena which had until then been scattered ((Corry, 2004)). Significantly, Poincaré’s examples included uniform convergence and the concept of group. 1. Long-term histories But the view of mathematics encapsulated by this — that it deals somehow with “sameness” — has also found its way into the history of mathematics.
    [Show full text]