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|Dave Rusin; The Mathematical Atlas|
|An area of algebraic geometry that deals with nonsingular curves of genus 1 - in English, solutions to equations y^2 = x^3 + A x + B. It has important connections to number theory and in particular to factorization of ordinary integers (and thus to cryptography). Also, what appear to be simple Diophantine equations often lead to elliptic curves. Through Riemann surfaces it has connections to topology; through modular forms and zeta functions to analysis. Elliptic curves also played a role in the recent resolution of the conjecture known as Fermat's Last Theorem.|
|Math Topics:||Algebraic Geometry, Algebraic Number Theory|
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