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Number Theory/Expert Profile

Vijilant

U.K.

Available

Expertise

Most questions on number theory, divisibility, primes, Euclidean algorithm, Fermat`s theorem, Wilson`s theorem, factorisation, euclidean algorithm, diophantine equations, Chinese remainder theorem, group theory, congruences, continued fractions.

Experience in the area

Teacher of math for 50 years

Organizations

ATL

Publications

Journal of mathematics and its applications

Education/Credentials

BSc Hons Liverpool

Awards and Honors

State Scholarship 1955

Past/Present Clients

I taught John Birt, former Director of the BBC in 1961. His homework book was the most perfect I have ever marked. And also the most neat. I could tell he was destined for great things. One of my classmates was the poet Roger McGough, and I have a mention in his autobiography.

What do you like about this subject?

The variety, and the fact that everyone can participate. Anyone could discover a new largest prime number by joining the Mersenne prime project, using their computer off-line in the background to do masses of calculations.

What do you still hope to achieve/learn in this field?

I would love to have enough knowledge to completely understand Andrew Wiles's proof of Fermat's last theorem.

Something interesting about this subject that others may not know:

Secure encrypted messaging can be dependent on the difficulty of factorising the product of two large prime numbers.

Something controversial or provocative about this subject

Does the beauty I find in number theory demand a divine creator for the Universe?

Average Ratings

Recent Reviews from Users

User	Date	K	C	T	P	Comments
Asad	11/07/09	10	10	10	10	Thank you
Asad	11/05/09	10	10	10	10	Thank you
George	11/04/09	10	10	10	10	Great Answer, Very Fast Appreciated
Math Dummy	11/02/09	10	10	10	10
JH	10/30/09	10	10	10	10

Recent Answers from Vijilant

2009-11-04 ap calculus ab:

Hello Asad You don't say what to differentiate with respect to, but I shall assume it is x. 9. (1/a)(2x/b - 2/a + d/x^2). It is arguable what the simplest expression is here. It may be 2x/(ab)

2009-11-03 urgent math:

Hello George You have left it late. Why didn't you query days ago. It is past midnight here in the UK and though I can answer all your questions, I don't have time. So I'll give you half an hour

2009-10-31 trigonometry:

Hello Sneha This is not my expertise, but I will help you with some of them. cos(2B) = 2 cos^2(B) - 1 = 2/sec^2(B) -1 = (1-tan^2(B))/(1+tan^2(B)) Then, clearing the fraction: cos(A-C) -cos(A-C)tan^2(B)

2009-10-27 math:

Hello Suli Recognising a sequence is a matter of knowing the rules of basic sequences and trying to see if you can find a fit. Clearly this sequence is not an AP or GP, nor is it a poynomial function

2009-10-26 Number Theory:

Hello Surya Unless n is a square, it can be factorised, and both of these factors are less than n, and can be found as factors of (n-1)!. So what happens when n is a square. n = 4 is an exception

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