REU Site: Wake/Davidson Experience In Number Theory Research

Wake Forest University, Winston Salem NC

Investigators

Abstract

The report of the President's Council of Advisors on Science and Technology (PCAST) highlights student research engagement as an effective way to recruit and retain STEM majors and help meet the economy's demand for students with STEM training, especially from the "underrepresented majority" - the 70% of college students that are women and racial minorities. The Wake/Davidson Experience in Number Theory Research (WADE INTO Research) program will provide a nine-week summer research experience for undergraduates (REU) for eight students during the summers of 2015, 2016, and 2017. These students will be divided into two groups of four and conduct original research in number theory under the direction of Dr. Katherine Thompson (of Davidson College), and Dr. Jeremy Rouse (of Wake Forest University). By participating in original research, the students will transition from being students in mathematics courses to being independent scholars who make original contributions to the discipline. They will experience the excitement, joys, challenges, and success of mathematics research, with the goal of each student group writing and submitting for publication an original research paper by the end of the summer. Number theory is one of the oldest sub-disciplines of mathematics and is replete with many simple to state problems that require the full arsenal of modern mathematics to solve, or which have so-far eluded solution. WADE Into Research participants will attack problems involving elementary number theory, algebraic number theory, quadratic forms, modular forms, and elliptic curves. These problems will be selected with the student's interests, strengths and mathematical tastes in mind. The research work will be complemented by a robust professional development program focusing on programming, mathematical writing, jobs for mathematics majors, and graduate study. The students will present the results of their research at a summer conference at the University of Georgia, and at the AMS/MAA Joint Meetings.