RigourRigour (British English) or rigor (American English; see spelling differences) describes a condition of stiffness or strictness. These constraints may be environmentally imposed, such as "the rigours of famine"; logically imposed, such as mathematical proofs which must maintain consistent answers; or socially imposed, such as the process of defining ethics and law. "Rigour" comes to English through old French (13th c.
Ramanujan–Petersson conjectureIn mathematics, the Ramanujan conjecture, due to , states that Ramanujan's tau function given by the Fourier coefficients τ(n) of the cusp form Δ(z) of weight 12 where , satisfies when p is a prime number. The generalized Ramanujan conjecture or Ramanujan–Petersson conjecture, introduced by , is a generalization to other modular forms or automorphic forms.
Factor baseIn computational number theory, a factor base is a small set of prime numbers commonly used as a mathematical tool in algorithms involving extensive sieving for potential factors of a given integer. A factor base is a relatively small set of distinct prime numbers P, sometimes together with -1. Say we want to factorize an integer n. We generate, in some way, a large number of integer pairs (x, y) for which , , and can be completely factorized over the chosen factor base—that is, all their prime factors are in P.
Aperiodic tilingAn aperiodic tiling is a non-periodic tiling with the additional property that it does not contain arbitrarily large periodic regions or patches. A set of tile-types (or prototiles) is aperiodic if copies of these tiles can form only non-periodic tilings. The Penrose tilings are a well-known example of aperiodic tilings. In March 2023, four researchers, David Smith, Joseph Samuel Myers, Craig S. Kaplan, and Chaim Goodman-Strauss, announced the proof that the tile discovered by David Smith is an aperiodic monotile, i.
Hermite normal formIn linear algebra, the Hermite normal form is an analogue of reduced echelon form for matrices over the integers Z. Just as reduced echelon form can be used to solve problems about the solution to the linear system Ax=b where x is in Rn, the Hermite normal form can solve problems about the solution to the linear system Ax=b where this time x is restricted to have integer coordinates only. Other applications of the Hermite normal form include integer programming, cryptography, and abstract algebra.
Elementary proofIn mathematics, an elementary proof is a mathematical proof that only uses basic techniques. More specifically, the term is used in number theory to refer to proofs that make no use of complex analysis. Historically, it was once thought that certain theorems, like the prime number theorem, could only be proved by invoking "higher" mathematical theorems or techniques. However, as time progresses, many of these results have also been subsequently reproven using only elementary techniques.
Mertens' theoremsIn analytic number theory, Mertens' theorems are three 1874 results related to the density of prime numbers proved by Franz Mertens. In the following, let mean all primes not exceeding n. Mertens' first theorem is that does not exceed 2 in absolute value for any . () Mertens' second theorem is where M is the Meissel–Mertens constant (). More precisely, Mertens proves that the expression under the limit does not in absolute value exceed for any . The main step in the proof of Mertens' second theorem is where the last equality needs which follows from .
Abc conjectureThe abc conjecture (also known as the Oesterlé–Masser conjecture) is a conjecture in number theory that arose out of a discussion of Joseph Oesterlé and David Masser in 1985. It is stated in terms of three positive integers and (hence the name) that are relatively prime and satisfy . The conjecture essentially states that the product of the distinct prime factors of is usually not much smaller than . A number of famous conjectures and theorems in number theory would follow immediately from the abc conjecture or its versions.
Cyclotomic fieldIn number theory, a cyclotomic field is a number field obtained by adjoining a complex root of unity to Q, the field of rational numbers. Cyclotomic fields played a crucial role in the development of modern algebra and number theory because of their relation with Fermat's Last Theorem. It was in the process of his deep investigations of the arithmetic of these fields (for prime n) – and more precisely, because of the failure of unique factorization in their rings of integers – that Ernst Kummer first introduced the concept of an ideal number and proved his celebrated congruences.
Modularity theoremThe modularity theorem (formerly called the Taniyama–Shimura conjecture, Taniyama-Weil conjecture or modularity conjecture for elliptic curves) states that elliptic curves over the field of rational numbers are related to modular forms. Andrew Wiles proved the modularity theorem for semistable elliptic curves, which was enough to imply Fermat's Last Theorem. Later, a series of papers by Wiles's former students Brian Conrad, Fred Diamond and Richard Taylor, culminating in a joint paper with Christophe Breuil, extended Wiles's techniques to prove the full modularity theorem in 2001.
