Positive Definite Quadratic Forms

I'm reading through Primes of the Form $latex {x^2+ny^2}&fg=000000$, by David Cox (link; it's good!). Here are the high-level notes I took on the first chapter, which is about the theory of quadratic forms. (Meta point re blog: I'm probably going to start posting more and more of these more high-level notes/sketches on this blog… Continue reading Positive Definite Quadratic Forms

A Sketchy Overview of Green-Tao

These are the notes of my last lecture in the 18.099 discrete analysis seminar. It is a very high-level overview of the Green-Tao theorem. It is a subset of this paper. 1. Synopsis This post as in overview of the proof of: Theorem 1 (Green-Tao) The prime numbers contain arbitrarily long arithmetic progressions. Here, Szemerédi's… Continue reading A Sketchy Overview of Green-Tao

Vinogradov’s Three-Prime Theorem (with Sammy Luo and Ryan Alweiss)

This was my final paper for 18.099, seminar in discrete analysis, jointly with Sammy Luo and Ryan Alweiss. We prove that every sufficiently large odd integer can be written as the sum of three primes, conditioned on a strong form of the prime number theorem. 1. Introduction In this paper, we prove the following result:… Continue reading Vinogradov’s Three-Prime Theorem (with Sammy Luo and Ryan Alweiss)

Miller-Rabin (for MIT 18.434)

This is a transcript of a talk I gave as part of MIT's 18.434 class, the ``Seminar in Theoretical Computer Science'' as part of MIT's communication requirement. (Insert snarky comment about MIT's CI-* requirements here.) It probably would have made a nice math circle talk for high schoolers but I felt somewhat awkward having to… Continue reading Miller-Rabin (for MIT 18.434)

Artin Reciprocity

I will tell you a story about the Reciprocity Law. After my thesis, I had the idea to define $latex {L}&fg=000000$-series for non-abelian extensions. But for them to agree with the $latex {L}&fg=000000$-series for abelian extensions, a certain isomorphism had to be true. I could show it implied all the standard reciprocity laws. So I… Continue reading Artin Reciprocity

Linnik’s Theorem for Sato-Tate Laws on CM Elliptic Curves

\title{A Variant of Linnik for Elliptic Curves} \maketitle Here I talk about my first project at the Emory REU. Prerequisites for this post: some familiarity with number fields. 1. Motivation: Arithemtic Progressions Given a property $latex {P}&fg=000000$ about primes, there's two questions we can ask: How many primes $latex {\le x}&fg=000000$ are there with this… Continue reading Linnik’s Theorem for Sato-Tate Laws on CM Elliptic Curves

Proof of Dirichlet’s Theorem on Arithmetic Progressions

In this post I will sketch a proof Dirichlet Theorem's in the following form: Theorem 1 (Dirichlet's Theorem on Arithmetic Progression) Let $latex \displaystyle \psi(x;q,a) = \sum_{\substack{n \le x \\ n \equiv a \mod q}} \Lambda(n). &fg=000000$ Let $latex {N}&fg=000000$ be a positive constant. Then for some constant $latex {C(N) > 0}&fg=000000$ depending on $latex… Continue reading Proof of Dirichlet’s Theorem on Arithmetic Progressions

Zeros and Primes

Prerequisites for this post: previous post, and complex analysis. For this entire post, $latex {s}&fg=000000$ is a complex variable with $latex {s = \sigma + it}&fg=000000$. 1. The $latex {\Gamma}&fg=000000$ function So there's this thing called the Gamma function. Denoted $latex {\Gamma(s)}&fg=000000$, it is defined by $latex \displaystyle \Gamma(s) = \int_0^{\infty} x^{s-1} e^{-x} \; dx… Continue reading Zeros and Primes

von Mangoldt and Zeta

Prerequisites for this post: definition of Dirichlet convolution, and big $latex {O}&fg=000000$-notation. Normally I don't like to blog about something until I'm pretty confident that I have a reasonably good understanding of what's happening, but I desperately need to sort out my thoughts, so here I go\dots 1. Primes One day, an alien explorer lands… Continue reading von Mangoldt and Zeta