Sums of Squares and Golden Gates

Through the works of Fermat, Gauss, and Lagrange, we understand which positive integers can be represented as sums of two, three, or four squares.  Hilbert’s 11th problem, from 1900, extends this questions to more general quadratic equations.  While much progress has been made since its formulation, an effective solution remains out of reach.  We will review some of these developments and end with some recent applications to the construction of optimally universal quantum gates in quantum computation.

You can learn more about Professor Peter Sarnak at https://www.ias.edu/scholars/sarnak