Jay Kopper : How to add

Posted by Wes Townsend , part of the Graduate Student Colloquium.

At

March 22, 2018, 5 p.m.

In

SEO 636

Abstract

Given two integers, it is a classical problem to find their sum. The modern perspective is to note that the operation of addition endows the integers with the structure of a group. However, the classical algorithm relies on a complicated procedure which obscures the underlying group structure. People typically treat an integer as an element of $\mathbb{Z}/10\mathbb{Z}^{\oplus n}$, and add elements of this group via an arcane process called "carrying." In this talk I will attempt to clarify this confusing apparatus using the group cohomology of certain cyclic groups. To conclude the talk, I will give an explicit example of a sum and discuss applications of addition.

Pizza will be provided.