18.781 | Spring 2012 | Undergraduate

Theory of Numbers

Course Description

This course is an elementary introduction to number theory with no algebraic prerequisites. Topics covered include primes, congruences, quadratic reciprocity, diophantine equations, irrational numbers, continued fractions, and partitions.

Course Info

Learning Resource Types
Problem Sets with Solutions
Exams with Solutions
Lecture Notes
Plot of points on x-y axis with both straight and curved lines connecting plotted points.
Some rational points on the hyperbola x^2 - 2y^2 = 1. The projection from away from (1,0) gives a bijection with the rational points on the y-axis, with the point (0,-m) going to x = (2m^2 + 1)/(2m^2 - 1), y = 2m/(2m^2 - 1). (Image by Abhinav Kumar.)