Conference Announcement
Preliminary Announcement
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* A CONFERENCE ON NUMBER THEORY *
* AND *
* FERMAT'S LAST THEOREM *
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Boston University
August 9-18, 1995
The conference is intended to be as accessible as possible to a
general mathematical audience. However, some background in
number theory and arithmetic geometry will be required. The
level of the conference will be aimed at advanced graduate
students and recent PhD recipients. The conference will also be
valuable to experienced mathematicians seeking to master the
tools used in the proof of Fermat's Last Theorem.
Conference Program (tentative):
Historical Background
Mathematical Background:
Elliptic Curves, Modular Curves, Representation Theory
Frey Curves
Serre's Conjectures and Ribet's Theorem
Deformation Theory of Galois Representations
Iwasawa Theory
Complete Intersection Rings
Hecke Algebras
Hilbert Irreducibility
The Taniyama-Shimura-Weil Conjecture
Partial List of Expected Speakers: John Coates, Henri Darmon,
Stephen Gelbart, Benedict Gross, Nick Katz, Barry Mazur, Ken
Ribet, David Rohrlich, Michael Rosen, Karl Rubin, Alice
Silverberg, Joe Silverman, Glenn Stevens, Andrew Wiles.
Organizing Committee: Glenn Stevens, Gary Cornell, Joe Silverman
Description: The conference will focus on two major topics: (1)
Andrew Wiles' recent proof of the Taniyama-Shimura-Weil
conjecture for semistable elliptic curves; and (2) the earlier
works of Frey, Serre, and Ribet showing that Wiles' Theorem would
complete the proof of Fermat's Last Theorem. In keeping with its
"instructional" mission, the conference will begin with
introductory lectures on elliptic curves, modular curves, modular
forms, and Galois representations. Wiles' work also draws from a
significant number of more advanced topics, including the
deformation theory of Galois representations, refined structure
of Hecke algebras, complete intersection rings, and generalized
Selmer groups. Each topic will be introduced by an expository
lecture describing some of its history and explaining in general
terms how it fits into the proof of Wiles' theorem. The ensuing
lectures will cover the finer aspects of the proof in detail.
In recognition of the historical significance of Fermat's Last
Theorem, some lectures will also reflect on the history of the
problem while others may speculate on the future and describe
some of the connections of Wiles' work with other parts of
mathematics.
A list of suggested background reading will be included with a
future mailing.
Twenty Minute Talks: Sunday, August 13 is reserved for twenty
minute talks. Participants who wish to speak in this forum are
invited to submit abstracts of their talks by mail to the address
below. The number of twenty minute talks may be limited by time
constraints.
Funding: Thanks to support from the Vaughn Foundation, the
National Science Foundation and Boston University we hope to be
able to provide financial assistance for all qualified graduate
students and recent Ph.D.'s who do not have access to other
sources of funding. A proposal to the National Security Agency
is also pending. All applications for financial assistance will
be considered, but priority will be given to graduate students
and recent PhD recipients.
For More Information: If you are interested in attending the
conference and would like to be included on the mailing list for
further information, please send the following email message to:
listproc@math.bu.edu
Your message should have no subject and the body of your message
should read: "subscribe fermat-list" YOUR NAME (quotes should not
be included). Example: If your name is John Doe, then your
message would read: subscribe fermat-list John Doe
If you prefer not to use email, please send
Your Name
Mailing Address
University or Business Address (if different)
Phone Number
Email Address
to
Fermat Conference
Department of Mathematics
Boston University
111 Cummington Street
Boston, MA 02215 USA