Frontiers of Mathematical Sciences Colloquium - Kevin Mark Buzzard

— 5:00pm

Location:
In Person - Learning Hall, Doherty Hall A302

Speaker:
KEVIN MARK BUZZARD, Professor of Pure Mathematics, Department of Mathematics, Faculty of Natural Sciences, Imperial College
https://profiles.imperial.ac.uk/k.buzzard

Will computers prove theorems?

Decades ago, they digitised music. At the time, it just seemed like an excuse to sell CDs at a higher price than vinyl records. But then came the internet, and now we have access to millions of songs on our phones. Digitisation of music ultimately turned the world of music on its head. 

Decades ago, they also digitised mathematics. For many years, mathematicians didn't care. But then came language models, and now DeepMind can answer 4/6 questions on the 2024 International Maths Olympiad and there are no signs of things slowing down. Is mathematics going to be turned on its head by these tools? In this talk, which is written for mathematicians and which will assume no background in AI or computer science, I will explain what it means to digitise mathematics using theorem provers, I'll explain how these systems are now engaging with modern mathematical ideas in several different areas, I'll talk about the benefits these systems have brought to mathematics, and I'll discuss what is hype, what might actually happen in the next few years, and how we as mathematicians can help make it happen. 

— Kevin Mark Buzzard is a British mathematician and currently a professor of pure mathematics at Imperial College London. He specialises in arithmetic geometry and the Langlands program.  Additional information

Presented by the Department of Mathematics Sciences

Event Website:
https://www.cmu.edu/math/news-events/calendar.html#event=77803855;instance=20241206160000?popup=1&lang=en-US