Mathematics Senior Thesis Defense by Alexander Shashkov '23

Low-Lying Zeros of Rankin-Selberg L-Functions by Alexander Shashkov ’23, Mathematics Senior Thesis Defense, Monday, May 1, 1 – 1:45 pm, North Science Building 113, Wachenheim.

Abstract:  L-functions are central to some of the most important problems in number theory.  Two of the seven Millenium Prize Problems concern L-functions, with a million dollar reward for their solution.  Of particular importance is the distribution of zeros of L-functions, as this is related to the distribution of primes.  In this talk, we introduce the concept of L-functions and discuss some of their properties.  Then, we provide some background on modular forms.  Finally, we discuss new results on the distribution of zeros of from the speaker’s undergraduate thesis.