Number theory

Main article: Number theory

The distribution of prime numbers is a central point of study in number theory. This Ulam spiral serves to
illustrate it, hinting, in particular, at the conditional independence between being prime and being a value of
certain quadratic polynomials.

Number theory started with the manipulation of numbers, that is, natural numbers  and later
expanded to integers  and rational numbers  Number theory was formerly called arithmetic, but
nowadays this term is mostly used for the methods of calculation with numbers.
A specificity of number theory is that many problems that can be stated very elementarily are very
difficult, and, when solved, have a solution that require very sophisticated methods coming from
various parts of mathematics. A notable example is Fermat's Last theorem that was stated in 1637
by Pierre de Fermat and proved only in 1994 by Andrew Wiles, using, among other tools, algebraic
geometry (more specifically scheme theory), category theory and homological algebra. Another
example is Goldbach's conjecture, that asserts that every even integer greater than 2 is the sum of
two prime numbers. Stated in 1742 by Christian Goldbach it remains unproven despite considerable
effort.
In view of the diversity of the studied problems and the solving methods, number theory is presently
split in several subareas, which include analytic number theory, algebraic number theory, geometry
of numbers (method oriented), Diophantine equations and transcendence theory (problem oriented).

Number theory
Main article: Number theory
The distribution of prime numbers is a central point of study in number theory. This Ulam spiral serves to
illustrate it, hinting, in particular, at the conditional independence between being prime and being a value of
certain quadratic polynomials.

Number theory started with the manipulation of numbers, that is, natural numbers  and later
expanded to integers  and rational numbers  Number theory was formerly called arithmetic, but
nowadays this term is mostly used for the methods of calculation with numbers.
A specificity of number theory is that many problems that can be stated very elementarily are very
difficult, and, when solved, have a solution that require very sophisticated methods coming from
various parts of mathematics. A notable example is Fermat's Last theorem that was stated in 1637
by Pierre de Fermat and proved only in 1994 by Andrew Wiles, using, among other tools, algebraic
geometry (more specifically scheme theory), category theory and homological algebra. Another
example is Goldbach's conjecture, that asserts that every even integer greater than 2 is the sum of
two prime numbers. Stated in 1742 by Christian Goldbach it remains unproven despite considerable
effort.
In view of the diversity of the studied problems and the solving methods, number theory is presently
split in several subareas, which include analytic number theory, algebraic number theory, geometry
of numbers (method oriented), Diophantine equations and transcendence theory (problem oriented).

Number theory
Main article: Number theory
The distribution of prime numbers is a central point of study in number theory. This Ulam spiral serves to
illustrate it, hinting, in particular, at the conditional independence between being prime and being a value of
certain quadratic polynomials.

Number theory started with the manipulation of numbers, that is, natural numbers  and later
expanded to integers  and rational numbers  Number theory was formerly called arithmetic, but
nowadays this term is mostly used for the methods of calculation with numbers.
A specificity of number theory is that many problems that can be stated very elementarily are very
difficult, and, when solved, have a solution that require very sophisticated methods coming from
various parts of mathematics. A notable example is Fermat's Last theorem that was stated in 1637
by Pierre de Fermat and proved only in 1994 by Andrew Wiles, using, among other tools, algebraic
geometry (more specifically scheme theory), category theory and homological algebra. Another
example is Goldbach's conjecture, that asserts that every even integer greater than 2 is the sum of
two prime numbers. Stated in 1742 by Christian Goldbach it remains unproven despite considerable
effort.
In view of the diversity of the studied problems and the solving methods, number theory is presently
split in several subareas, which include analytic number theory, algebraic number theory, geometry
of numbers (method oriented), Diophantine equations and transcendence theory (problem oriented).

Number theory
Main article: Number theory
The distribution of prime numbers is a central point of study in number theory. This Ulam spiral serves to
illustrate it, hinting, in particular, at the conditional independence between being prime and being a value of
certain quadratic polynomials.

Number theory started with the manipulation of numbers, that is, natural numbers  and later
expanded to integers  and rational numbers  Number theory was formerly called arithmetic, but
nowadays this term is mostly used for the methods of calculation with numbers.
A specificity of number theory is that many problems that can be stated very elementarily are very
difficult, and, when solved, have a solution that require very sophisticated methods coming from
various parts of mathematics. A notable example is Fermat's Last theorem that was stated in 1637
by Pierre de Fermat and proved only in 1994 by Andrew Wiles, using, among other tools, algebraic
geometry (more specifically scheme theory), category theory and homological algebra. Another
example is Goldbach's conjecture, that asserts that every even integer greater than 2 is the sum of
two prime numbers. Stated in 1742 by Christian Goldbach it remains unproven despite considerable
effort.
In view of the diversity of the studied problems and the solving methods, number theory is presently
split in several subareas, which include analytic number theory, algebraic number theory, geometry
of numbers (method oriented), Diophantine equations and transcendence theory (problem oriented).