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DEGREE REGULATIONS & PROGRAMMES OF STUDY 2024/2025

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DRPS : Course Catalogue : School of Mathematics : Mathematics

Undergraduate Course: Analytic Number Theory (MATH11226)

Course Outline
SchoolSchool of Mathematics CollegeCollege of Science and Engineering
Credit level (Normal year taken)SCQF Level 11 (Year 5 Undergraduate) AvailabilityAvailable to all students
SCQF Credits10 ECTS Credits5
SummaryThis course develops the analytic aspects and methods used to study the distribution of prime numbers. In this course you will see how the notions and results from Honours Complex Variables can be used in a decisive and unexpected way to unlock many mysterious and deep properties of the primes.
Course description We will investigate the basic properties of Riemann zeta function, exhibiting its close connection to prime numbers, its analytic continuation to the whole complex plane and its fundamental functional equation which will lead us to a precise statement of the Riemann Hypothesis, arguably the most important unsolved problem in mathematics.

Course Description
1. Properties of the Riemann zeta function, its analytic continuation, the functional equation, Euler's product formula, and the divergence of the
reciprocal sum of primes.
2. The Prime Number Theorem.
3. Dirichlet series and their basic properties. Dirichlet characters and the L-functions they define.
4. Dirichlet's theorem on infinitely many primes in an arithmetic progression.
5. Further topics
Entry Requirements (not applicable to Visiting Students)
Pre-requisites Students MUST have passed: Honours Complex Variables (MATH10067)
Co-requisites
Prohibited Combinations Other requirements Note that PGT students on School of Mathematics MSc programmes are note required to have taken pre-requisite courses, but they are advised to check that they have studied the material covered in the syllabus of each pre-requisite course before enrolling.
Information for Visiting Students
Pre-requisitesNone
High Demand Course? Yes
Course Delivery Information
Academic year 2024/25, Available to all students (SV1) Quota:  None
Course Start Semester 2
Timetable Timetable
Learning and Teaching activities (Further Info) Total Hours: 100 ( Lecture Hours 22, Seminar/Tutorial Hours 5, Summative Assessment Hours 2, Programme Level Learning and Teaching Hours 2, Directed Learning and Independent Learning Hours 69 )
Assessment (Further Info) Written Exam 0 %, Coursework 100 %, Practical Exam 0 %
Additional Information (Assessment) Coursework: 100%
Feedback Not entered
No Exam Information
Learning Outcomes
On completion of this course, the student will be able to:
  1. Demonstrate an understanding of Analytic Number Theory by proving unseen results using the methods of the course.
  2. Correctly state the main definitions and theorems in the course.
  3. Produce examples and counterexamples illustrating the mathematical concepts presented in the course.
  4. Explain their reasoning about rigorous Analytic Number Theory clearly and precisely,using appropriate technical language.
Reading List
There will be no textbook that the lectures will follow. Lecture notes will be provided. However the following are good references for the course:
1. The Prime Number Theorem by G.J.O. Jameson, (LMS Student Texts 53,Cambridge University Press, 2003).
2. Introduction to Analytic Number Theory by T.M. Apostol, (Undergraduate Texts in Mathematics, Springer-Verlag, 1976, Chapters 2,3,11,12 and 13).
3. Multiplicative number theory by Harold Davenport (third ed., Graduate Texts in Mathematics, vol. 74, Springer-Verlag, New York, 2000).
4. Problems in Analytic Number Theory by M. Ram Murty (Springer, 2001.Chapters 1 - 5).
5. An Introduction to the Theory of Numbers by G.H. Hardy and E.M. Wright (Sixth edition, Oxford University Press, 2008, Chapters 16 ,17 and 18).
Additional Information
Graduate Attributes and Skills Not entered
KeywordsANT
Contacts
Course organiserProf Jim Wright
Tel: (0131 6)50 8570
Email: J.R.Wright@ed.ac.uk
Course secretaryMr Martin Delaney
Tel: (0131 6)50 6427
Email: Martin.Delaney@ed.ac.uk
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