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
assignment_turned_in Problem Sets with Solutions
grading Exams with Solutions
notes 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.)