Tony Geramita: Sums of Squares: Evolution of an Idea.
Tony Geramita, Queen’s University and University of Genova
Time: Wed 2010-03-31 16.00
Location: KTH, Matematik, seminarierum 3721
Beginning with Fermat’s characterization of primes which are the sum of two squares, I would like to show how this naturally leads to Waring’s Problem for Integers and then to Waring’s Problem for Homogeneous Polynomials. One half of this latter problem has been solved in recent years and I will explain the nature of the approach to that solution through the study of the Higher Secant Varieties of Veronese Varieties and the study of non-reduced subschemes of pro jective n-space. Despite the technical sounding terms above, the talk is aimed at a general audience and I will keep the technicalities to a minimum.
Coffee and tea served at 15.30.