Tuesday, February 12th, 2019

Time: 1:00-2:00 p.m.  Place: Jeffery Hall 422

Speaker: Siddhi Pathak (Queen's University)

Title: Distribution of special values of $L$-series attached to Erdos functions.

Abstract: Inspired by Dirichlet's theorem that $L(1,\chi) \neq 0$ for a non-principal Dirichlet character $\chi$, S. Chowla initiated the study of non-vanishing of $L(1,f)$ for a rational valued, $q$-periodic arithmetical function $f$. In this context, Erdos conjectured that $L(1,f) \neq 0$ when $f$ takes values in $\{ -1, 1\}$. This conjecture remains open in the case $q \equiv 1 \bmod 4$ or when $q > 2 \phi(q) + 1$. In this talk, we discuss a density theoretic approach towards this conjecture and the distribution of these values.

Tuesday, January 29th, 2019

Time: 1:00-2:00 p.m.  Place: Jeffery Hall 422

Speaker: Neha Prabhu (Queen's University)

Title: A probabilistic approach to analytic number theory.

Abstract: In 2005, Allan Gut showed that the distribution of a certain random variable, constructed using a zeta-distributed random variable, is compound Poisson. Exploiting this property, he reproved some well-known facts about the Riemann zeta function, and Selberg’s identity, using probability theory. In this talk, I present these results.

Tuesday, January 15th, 2019

Time: 1:00-2:00 p.m.  Place: Jeffery Hall 422

Speaker: Siddhi Pathak (Queen's University)

Title: Dedekind zeta function at odd positive integers.

Abstract: Let $\zeta(s)$ denote the Riemann zeta-function. Thanks to Euler's evaluation and Lindemann's theorem on transcendence of $\pi$, we understand that $\zeta(2k)$ is transcendental for any positive integer $k$. However, the arithmetic nature of the values of $\zeta(s)$ at odd positive integers remains a mystery. Recently, significant progress was made concerning the irrationality of these values, with perhaps the most remarkable theorem being that infinitely many of $\zeta(2k+1)$ are irrational, which was shown by T. Rivoal in 2000.

Similarly, one can inquire regarding the arithmetic nature of values of the Dedekind zeta-function $\zeta_K(s)$ attached to a number field $K$. When $K$ is totally real, the values $\zeta_K(2k)$ were proven to be algebraic multiples of powers of $\pi$ by Siegel and Klingen, independently. But this question remains unsolved in all other cases. In this talk, we discuss how our current knowledge allows us to deduce certain irrationality results for $\zeta_K(2k+1)$, where $K$ is an imaginary quadratic field. This is joint work with Prof. M. Ram Murty.

Tuesday, November 27th, 2018

Time: 10:00-11:00 a.m.  Place: Jeffery Hall 422

Speaker: Sonja Ruzic

Title: Presentation of the paper "Maxima for Graphs and a New Proof of a Theorem of Turan", by T.S. Motzkin and E.G. Straus.

Abstract: In this talk we consider the following problem: Given a graph G with vertices 1, 2, ..., n, let S be the simplex in $\mathbb{R}^n$ given by the set $x={x_1, x_2, ..., x_n | \sum_{i=1}^{n}x_i=1, x_i \geq 0 \forall I}$. What is $\max_{x \in S} \sum_{(i, j)\in G}x_ix_j?$ Furthermore, a proof of a theorem of Turan, which gives an upper bound to the number of edges of a graph G which contains no complete subgraph of order k, will be presented.

Tuesday, November 6th, 2018

Time: 10:00-11:00 a.m.  Place: Jeffery Hall 422

Speaker: Brad Rodgers (Queen's University)

Title: Integers in short intervals representable as sums of two squares.

Abstract: Consider the set S of integers that can be represented as a sum of two squares. How are the elements of S distributed? In particular, how many elements fall into a random "short interval". (The definition of short interval will be given in the talk.) For very short intervals elements of S seem to be laid down at random, but I will discuss evidence that this ceases to be the case for longer short intervals. In particular, I will discuss a function field analogue of this problem and a connection to z-measures, an object first investigated in the context of asymptotic representation theory. This is joint work with O. Gorodetsky.