18.783 - Elliptic Curves


Lecturer: Andrew Sutherland

Email: drew@math.mit.edu

Time and Place: MW 2-3:30, 4-237

Office Hours: T 20:30-21:30 (Zoom),
       W 3:30-4:30 (2-341B)


COURSE DESCRIPTION

A computationally focused introduction to elliptic curves, with applications to number theory and cryptography. Lecture notes from the 2021 edition of this course are available on OCW. The 2022 edition will include material on elliptic curves over Q that was not covered in 2021; see the course outline for more details.

This class will be taught live and will not be recorded. Teaching will be in-person if COVID conditions permit, and virtual if not (but live in any case); see the syllabus for more details on COVID contingency plans. We are not using Canvas for this course, but you can find the Zoom link for virtual offices hours posted there (Touchstone authentication required).

Prerequisites: A year of algebra groups covering groups, rings, and fields (including Galois theory) at the level of 18.701/2. Complex analysis (18.112) may be helpful but is not required.


RECENT UPDATES

05-09-22 The slides and notes for Lecture 25 have been posted.

05-04-22 The slides and notes for Lecture 24 have been posted.

05-02-22 The slides and notes for Lecture 23 have been posted.