Uploaded September 2020 | Updated September 2026, 49 minutes ago
Rational numbers are fractions such as -2/7. It turns out that the circle x2+y2=3 has no points whose coordinates are rational numbers, while the circle x2+y2=5 has infinitely many. Why do these equations behave so differently? What about more complicated equations: is there a method to decide whether there are any solutions in rational numbers? Join Bjorn Poonen, Distinguished Professor in Science at MIT, as a search for answers leads to questions about prime numbers, geometry, and problems that a computer will never be able to solve. Special introduction by C. Kenneth Fan, President of Girls’ Angle.
Math Encounters is a public presentation series celebrating the spectacular world of mathematics, presented by the Simons Foundation and the National Museum of Mathematics.
For further information, call the National Museum of Mathematics at
212-542-0566 or e-mail mathencounters@momath.org.
Rational numbers are fractions such as -2/7. It turns out that the circle x2+y2=3 has no points whose coordinates are rational numbers, while the circle x2+y2=5 has infinitely many. Why do these equations behave so differently? What about more complicated equations: is there a method to decide whether there are any solutions in rational numbers? Join Bjorn Poonen, Distinguished Professor in Science at MIT, as a search for answers leads to questions about prime numbers, geometry, and problems that a computer will never be able to solve. Special introduction by C. Kenneth Fan, President of Girls’ Angle.
Math Encounters is a public presentation series celebrating the spectacular world of mathematics, presented by the Simons Foundation and the National Museum of Mathematics.
For further information, call the National Museum of Mathematics at
212-542-0566 or e-mail mathencounters@momath.org.
