Conference Announcement


                     Preliminary Announcement
                                     
              ***************************************
              *   A CONFERENCE ON NUMBER THEORY     *
              *               AND                   *
              *       FERMAT'S LAST THEOREM         *
              ***************************************                        

			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