Baylor Mathematics Lecture Series Hosts Award-Winning Mathematician

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Dr. Brian Conrey, executive director of the American Institute of Mathematics in Palo Alto, Calif., will present two lectures focused on an unanswered mathematical dilemma called the Riemann's Hypothesis.

Conrey will present his first lecture, "Primes and Zeros: A Million Dollar Mystery" at 7 p.m., Wednesday, Sept. 9, in room D109 at the Baylor Sciences Building, and "Random Matrix Theory and the Riemann Zeta Function" at 4 p.m., Thursday, Sept. 10, in room 344 of the Sid Richardson Building on the Baylor University campus.

The event, which is free and open to the public, is part of the second annual Baylor Lecture Series in Mathematics, which hosts national and international mathematicians who have provided contributions to the study of mathematics. The series is aimed at undergraduate, graduate and high school students and teachers who have an interest in mathematics.

Considered an expert authority on the Riemann Hypothesis, Conrey received his bachelor's in mathematics from Santa Clara University and his doctorate from the University of Michigan. He was awarded a Sloan Fellowship in 1986. Conrey has taught mathematics at Oklahoma State University and at the University of Bristol in the United Kingdom. In March 2009, Conrey gave the prestigious Levi L. Conant Lecture at Worchester Polytechnic Institute in Worchester, Mass.

Some of Conrey's mathematical interests include studying the analytic number theory and serving as an editor for the Journal of Number Theory where he has published more than 50 articles.

Conrey's first lecture "Primes and Zeros: A Million Dollar Mystery" will explore back 150 years ago when Riemann discovered a new understanding of prime numbers. He will introduce the historical background and context to Riemann's Hypothesis in his lecture.

In Conrey's second lecture, "Random Matrix Theory and the Riemann Zeta Function" he will connect the Riemann Hypothesis with the discovery made by Hugh Montgomery and Freeman Dyson relating the zeros found in the Riemann function to random matrices.

For more information about this event and the Baylor lecture series in mathematics, please visit Baylor Mathematics
.

by Lillyan Baker, student newswriter, (254) 710-6805