PROMYS Guest Lecture: Friday, July 29 2011
Speaker: Jonathan Hanke (University of Georgia)
Title: Random Numbers and the Zeta Function
Abstract: In this talk we will try to understand the chance that two "randomly chosen" integers are relatively prime, and explore some surprising connections between this very number theoretical question and other seemingly unrelated areas of mathematics (e.g. trigonometry, calculus, and analysis). We will also discuss the central role played by the Riemann zeta function, which encodes a great deal of information about the integers in a very subtle and useful way.