Rational Solutions to Cubic Equations

Cubic equations (also called elliptic curves) have a long history in mathematics, going back to the work of Fermat and Euler. The basic problem, which is still not completely resolved, is to understand when an equation has a finite or an infinite number of rational solutions. I will discuss the progress that has been made, ending with a description of recent work on the average number of solutions.

The recipient of a MacArthur fellowship and the Cole Prize in Number Theory from the American Mathematical Society, Professor Gross is a member of the National Academy of Sciences and a former Dean of Harvard College.

You can find more information about speaker Benedict Gross at http://www.math.harvard.edu/~gross/