Sphere packingIn geometry, a sphere packing is an arrangement of non-overlapping spheres within a containing space. The spheres considered are usually all of identical size, and the space is usually three-dimensional Euclidean space. However, sphere packing problems can be generalised to consider unequal spheres, spaces of other dimensions (where the problem becomes circle packing in two dimensions, or hypersphere packing in higher dimensions) or to non-Euclidean spaces such as hyperbolic space.
Elliptic curveIn mathematics, an elliptic curve is a smooth, projective, algebraic curve of genus one, on which there is a specified point O. An elliptic curve is defined over a field K and describes points in K^2, the Cartesian product of K with itself. If the field's characteristic is different from 2 and 3, then the curve can be described as a plane algebraic curve which consists of solutions (x, y) for: for some coefficients a and b in K. The curve is required to be non-singular, which means that the curve has no cusps or self-intersections.
Diophantine geometryIn mathematics, Diophantine geometry is the study of Diophantine equations by means of powerful methods in algebraic geometry. By the 20th century it became clear for some mathematicians that methods of algebraic geometry are ideal tools to study these equations. Diophantine geometry is part of the broader field of arithmetic geometry. Four theorems in Diophantine geometry which are of fundamental importance include: Mordell–Weil theorem Roth's theorem Siegel's theorem Faltings's theorem Serge Lang published a book Diophantine Geometry in the area in 1962, and by this book he coined the term "Diophantine Geometry".
Height functionA height function is a function that quantifies the complexity of mathematical objects. In Diophantine geometry, height functions quantify the size of solutions to Diophantine equations and are typically functions from a set of points on algebraic varieties (or a set of algebraic varieties) to the real numbers. For instance, the classical or naive height over the rational numbers is typically defined to be the maximum of the numerators and denominators of the coordinates (e.g.
Close-packing of equal spheresIn geometry, close-packing of equal spheres is a dense arrangement of congruent spheres in an infinite, regular arrangement (or lattice). Carl Friedrich Gauss proved that the highest average density – that is, the greatest fraction of space occupied by spheres – that can be achieved by a lattice packing is The same packing density can also be achieved by alternate stackings of the same close-packed planes of spheres, including structures that are aperiodic in the stacking direction.
Local zeta functionIn number theory, the local zeta function Z(V, s) (sometimes called the congruent zeta function or the Hasse–Weil zeta function) is defined as where V is a non-singular n-dimensional projective algebraic variety over the field Fq with q elements and Nm is the number of points of V defined over the finite field extension Fqm of Fq. Making the variable transformation u = q−s, gives as the formal power series in the variable .
Lattice (order)A lattice is an abstract structure studied in the mathematical subdisciplines of order theory and abstract algebra. It consists of a partially ordered set in which every pair of elements has a unique supremum (also called a least upper bound or join) and a unique infimum (also called a greatest lower bound or meet). An example is given by the power set of a set, partially ordered by inclusion, for which the supremum is the union and the infimum is the intersection.
E8 latticeIn mathematics, the E_8 lattice is a special lattice in R^8. It can be characterized as the unique positive-definite, even, unimodular lattice of rank 8. The name derives from the fact that it is the root lattice of the E_8 root system. The norm of the E_8 lattice (divided by 2) is a positive definite even unimodular quadratic form in 8 variables, and conversely such a quadratic form can be used to construct a positive-definite, even, unimodular lattice of rank 8. The existence of such a form was first shown by H.
Riemann zeta functionThe Riemann zeta function or Euler–Riemann zeta function, denoted by the Greek letter ζ (zeta), is a mathematical function of a complex variable defined as for , and its analytic continuation elsewhere. The Riemann zeta function plays a pivotal role in analytic number theory, and has applications in physics, probability theory, and applied statistics. Leonhard Euler first introduced and studied the function over the reals in the first half of the eighteenth century.
Hurwitz zeta functionIn mathematics, the Hurwitz zeta function is one of the many zeta functions. It is formally defined for complex variables s with Re(s) > 1 and a ≠ 0, −1, −2, ... by This series is absolutely convergent for the given values of s and a and can be extended to a meromorphic function defined for all s ≠ 1. The Riemann zeta function is ζ(s,1). The Hurwitz zeta function is named after Adolf Hurwitz, who introduced it in 1882. The Hurwitz zeta function has an integral representation for and (This integral can be viewed as a Mellin transform.
André WeilAndré Weil ('veɪ; ɑ̃dʁe vɛj; 6 May 1906 – 6 August 1998) was a French mathematician, known for his foundational work in number theory and algebraic geometry. He was one of the most influential mathematicians of the twentieth century. His influence is due both to his original contributions to a remarkably broad spectrum of mathematical theories, and to the mark he left on mathematical practice and style, through some of his own works as well as through the Bourbaki group, of which he was one of the principal founders.
Global fieldIn mathematics, a global field is one of two type of fields (the other one is local field) which are characterized using valuations. There are two kinds of global fields: Algebraic number field: A finite extension of Global function field: The function field of an algebraic curve over a finite field, equivalently, a finite extension of , the field of rational functions in one variable over the finite field with elements. An axiomatic characterization of these fields via valuation theory was given by Emil Artin and George Whaples in the 1940s.
Distributive latticeIn mathematics, a distributive lattice is a lattice in which the operations of join and meet distribute over each other. The prototypical examples of such structures are collections of sets for which the lattice operations can be given by set union and intersection. Indeed, these lattices of sets describe the scenery completely: every distributive lattice is—up to isomorphism—given as such a lattice of sets. As in the case of arbitrary lattices, one can choose to consider a distributive lattice L either as a structure of order theory or of universal algebra.
DimensionIn physics and mathematics, the dimension of a mathematical space (or object) is informally defined as the minimum number of coordinates needed to specify any point within it. Thus, a line has a dimension of one (1D) because only one coordinate is needed to specify a point on it - for example, the point at 5 on a number line. A surface, such as the boundary of a cylinder or sphere, has a dimension of two (2D) because two coordinates are needed to specify a point on it - for example, both a latitude and longitude are required to locate a point on the surface of a sphere.
Lerch zeta functionIn mathematics, the Lerch zeta function, sometimes called the Hurwitz–Lerch zeta function, is a special function that generalizes the Hurwitz zeta function and the polylogarithm. It is named after Czech mathematician Mathias Lerch, who published a paper about the function in 1887. The Lerch zeta function is given by A related function, the Lerch transcendent, is given by The transcendent only converges for any real number , where: or and .
Bravais latticeIn geometry and crystallography, a Bravais lattice, named after , is an infinite array of discrete points generated by a set of discrete translation operations described in three dimensional space by where the ni are any integers, and ai are primitive translation vectors, or primitive vectors, which lie in different directions (not necessarily mutually perpendicular) and span the lattice. The choice of primitive vectors for a given Bravais lattice is not unique.
Abelian varietyIn mathematics, particularly in algebraic geometry, complex analysis and algebraic number theory, an abelian variety is a projective algebraic variety that is also an algebraic group, i.e., has a group law that can be defined by regular functions. Abelian varieties are at the same time among the most studied objects in algebraic geometry and indispensable tools for much research on other topics in algebraic geometry and number theory. An abelian variety can be defined by equations having coefficients in any field; the variety is then said to be defined over that field.
Faltings's theoremFaltings's theorem is a result in arithmetic geometry, according to which a curve of genus greater than 1 over the field of rational numbers has only finitely many rational points. This was conjectured in 1922 by Louis Mordell, and known as the Mordell conjecture until its 1983 proof by Gerd Faltings. The conjecture was later generalized by replacing by any number field. Let be a non-singular algebraic curve of genus over . Then the set of rational points on may be determined as follows: When , there are either no points or infinitely many.
L-functionIn mathematics, an L-function is a meromorphic function on the complex plane, associated to one out of several categories of mathematical objects. An L-series is a Dirichlet series, usually convergent on a half-plane, that may give rise to an L-function via analytic continuation. The Riemann zeta function is an example of an L-function, and one important conjecture involving L-functions is the Riemann hypothesis and its generalization. The theory of L-functions has become a very substantial, and still largely conjectural, part of contemporary analytic number theory.
Complete latticeIn mathematics, a complete lattice is a partially ordered set in which all subsets have both a supremum (join) and an infimum (meet). A lattice which satisfies at least one of these properties is known as a conditionally complete lattice. Specifically, every non-empty finite lattice is complete. Complete lattices appear in many applications in mathematics and computer science. Being a special instance of lattices, they are studied both in order theory and universal algebra.
