Date & Time: Wednesday, 11 January, 2012 at 3.30 p.m.
Venue: Ramanujan Hall
Title: The Partition Function Revisited
Speaker: Prof. M. Ram Murty, Queen's University
Abstract: We will discuss the celebrated formula of Hardy and Ramanujan for the partition function. Their formula was derived using the famous circle method. By using recent advances in the theory of mock modular forms, we show how one can derive the Hardy-Ramanujan formula (and more) without using the circle method. The method can also be applied to deal with other questions previously addressed using the circle method, such as the coefficients of the modular invariant, the j-function. This is joint work with M. Dewar.