Hello Everyone,
My name is Joseph Pruitt, I was born and raised in Long Beach California where I obtained my Bachelors Degree in Mathematics at California State University Long Beach. My college experience was unlike most others in that it only took me 5 semesters to finish my degree, between heavy schedules and living at home I did not spend much time involved in the "college life". I will be pursuing my Ph.D in Mathematics here at the University of Illinois starting in the fall and having learned my lesson I won't try to rush through this time. During my whirlwind survey of mathematics as an undergrad I found a particular love for the field of Algebra specifically Algebraic Number Theory.
Algebraic Number Theory is the study of numbers, especially prime numbers, through the lens of modern algebra where we have structures that behave quite like prime numbers. My personal interest in the field is the study of prime numbers and their special properties. My research project this summer will be an attempt to apply elements of Mathematical Logic to Algebraic Number Theory in an attempt to glean new results in the field by viewing it from a different angle. Understanding prime numbers is of the utmost importance as they are central to our understanding of numbers as a whole, perhaps the most common and important application of prime numbers is the encryption and decryption of information. All Public Key Cryptography (the kind of encryption that allows two computers to exchange sensitive information via a public medium such as the internet) is entirely based in the special properties of prime numbers.
Anyway just to sum it all up for you I am from California, I am a math major, and I think prime numbers are cool. Thanks for taking the time to read this and I look forward to getting to know the rest of you over the summer.
This is a space where UIUC SPI participants in the Summer 2013 Research Methods and Writing Seminar engage each other as researchers, intellectuals and members of a cross disciplinary knowledge producing community.
Wow Joseph! I'm fascinated by your having lived and breathed your studies in bootcamp form for those five semesters! Do you think that kind of intellectual immersion has helped you see mathematics in a new way? I can't even begin to wrap my head around the logistics of that schedule and the radical differences in learning/interacting with the concepts you've studied in the time that you did compared to a four year tract! That's just amazing and mind-blowing! Go you :D !!
ReplyDeleteGood stuff, man, and as you say I think algebraic number theory has tons of applications. It looks to be really fruitful for both research and work in industry. Have you looked into Elliptic Curve cryptography at all? Again cryptography, and from a cursory glance at the literature (ok, ok, wikipedia haha) it seems to involve some good stuff from Algebra. Just a thought!
ReplyDelete