Forder Lecture 2010

The Biennial Forder Lecture:

Arithmetic progressions of primes

Professor Ben Green -- University of Cambridge.

A prime number is one that is divisible by exactly two numbers: itself, and one. The first few prime numbers are 2,3,5,7,11,13,17,19. The apparently random way in which prime numbers occur has fascinated people for centuries, and many attempts have been made to find some type of order in the sequence.

One of the most significant recent advances was made in 2004, when Prof. Green and his coauthor, the Fields medalist Terence Tao, proved that the sequence of prime numbers contains arbitrarily long arithmetic sequences. An arithmetic sequence of numbers is one in which each number is obtained by adding some constant to the previous number. For example, 3,7,11 is an arithmetic sequence, since each number is obtained by adding 4 to the previous number. As it happens, every number in this particular arithmetic sequence is a prime. It was a longstanding problem to show that it is possible to find arithmetic sequences of arbitrary length that are made up entirely of primes.

Prof. Green will talk about his and Prof. Tao's solution of the problem. The lecture is open to the public and will be appropriate for a non-specialist audience.

6.30pm Monday 13 September
Maclaurin LT102,
Victoria University,
Kelburn Parade

Download a poster for this lecture

Ben Green's homepage

More information on arithmetic sequences in primes

For information on the seminar, email Dillon Mayhew