【115/10/30】12:10-13:00 Mr. Hao-Yuan Chang (Department of Mathematics, National Cheng Kung University)
| Algebra and Number Theory Learning Seminar | |
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| Time | 2026-10-30 12:10-13:00 |
| Venue | 31106, Department of Mathematics |
| Speaker | Mr. Hao-Yuan Chang (Department of Mathematics, National Cheng Kung University) |
| Title | Elliptic Curves in the Wild |
| Abstract | Why do elliptic curves appear in mathematics, and how might one encounter them in nature? In this talk, we approach these questions through a classical problem in mechanics: the motion of a spinning rigid body. Following the exposition in Michèle Audin's *Spinning Tops*, we begin with the equations of motion and their conservation laws. We shall see how these elementary physical considerations lead naturally to an algebraic curve, which turns out to be an elliptic curve. This provides a concrete setting in which the geometry of elliptic curves, and eventually the theory of elliptic functions, becomes both natural and useful. The aim of this talk is not to develop a general theory, but rather to illustrate how elliptic curves arise in the wild, and why one might want to study them in the first place. |
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