COURSE DESCRIPTION
This is the second semester of MIT's graduate sequence in number theory. The first semester (18.785) typically focuses on algebraic number theory, while the content of the second semester varies form year to year. This year our focus will be on modular forms and modular curves, following Diamond-Shurman and Miyake, along with some supplementary material on modular curves and Galois representations. See the syllabus for more details.
Prerequisite: The official prerequisite is 18.785, but this year 18.786 will be largely self-contained and students who have not taken 18.785 are welcome. No prior knowledge of modular forms will be assumed.
RECENT UPDATES
5-14-24 Notes for Lecture 23 have been posted.
5-09-24 For those looking for extra credit, if you solve all 3 problems on Problem Set 7, say with scores a,b,c, your score on Problem Set 7 will be a+b+c-min(a,b,c)/2 (so you could potentially get 25 points of extra credit). For almost all of you this will have no impact on your final grade and there is no reason to solve more than 2 problems.
5-09-24 Notes for Lecture 22 have been posted.
5-07-24 Problem Set 7 hes been posted. It is due by midnight on Tuesday, May 14.
5-06-24 Notes for Lecture 21 have been posted.
