507 – Advanced Number Theory (Syllabus)

Mathematics 507: Advanced number theory.

Section 1.
Instructor: Andrés E. Caicedo.
Contact Information: See here.
Time: MWF 12:40-1:30 pm.
Place: M/G 124.
Office Hours: MF 11:40 am-12:30 pm 10:40-11:30 am (or by appointment).

The (admittedly impossible) goal is to discuss the following topics:

1. Divisibility
2. Congruences
3. Primitive roots
4. Quadratic reciprocity
5. Prime numbers
6. Waring’s problem
7. Geometry of numbers
8. Transcendental number theory
9. Additive combinatorics
10. Integer partitions

Recommended background: Mathematics 306: Number theory, or equivalent. It is highly desirable that you have taken prior courses in analysis and abstract algebra.

Textbook: Elementary methods in number theory. By Melvin Nathanson. Springer-Verlag (2000), ISBN: 0-387-98911-9.

At the end, this was a matter of personal taste, as my list of topics leans more towards the “analytic” than the “algebraic” side of things. This list is somewhat nonstandard. Here are some additional suggested references, both for the course and for number theory in general. I will add suggestions through the course, depending on the topic being covered:

1. A classical introduction to number theory. By Kenneth Ireland and Michael Rosen. Springer-Verlag (1990), ISBN: 0-387-97329-X. Highly recommended, this could have been our textbook.
2. Algebraic number theory and Fermat’s last theorem. By Ian Stewart and David Tall. A K Peters (2002), ISBN: 978-1568811192. This would be a nice textbook for a first course in algebraic number theory, but it requires background in Galois theory.
3. Multiplicative number theory. By Harold Davenport, revised by Hugh Montgomery. Springer-Verlag (2000), ISBN: 0-387-95097-4. This is a very nice book, but it definitely requires background in complex analysis.
4. Making transcendence transparent: an intuitive approach to classical transcendental number theory. By Edward Burger and Robert Tubbs. Springer-Verlag (2004), ISBN: 978-0387214443.
5. Additive number theory: The classical bases. By Melvyn Nathanson. Springer-Verlag (1996), ISBN: 978-0387946566.
6. Additive number theory: Inverse problems and the geometry of sumsets. By Melvyn Nathanson. Springer-Verlag (1996), ISBN: 0-387-94655-1.
7. Integer partitions. By George Andrews and Kimmo Eriksson. Cambridge University Press (2004), ISBN: 0-521-60090-1. Andrews also authored a more advanced textbook on partition theory, that requires complex analysis.

Grading: Based on homework.

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