KTH/SU Mathematics Colloquium

07-02-14

Andreas Strömbergsson, KTH

Some connections between number theory and dynamical systems

I will give several examples where dynamical systems play a central role in number theoretical results, and vice versa. In particular I will describe Ratner's theorem on equidistribution of unipotent flows on homogeneous spaces, which has found applications in several number theoretical problems. I will also discuss how, conversely, number theory can be used to strengthen Ratner's theorem so that it gives an explicit rate of convergence, in certain special cases.