Understanding the Second Mémoire of Évariste Galois: modern counterexamples to ancient writings

Understanding the Second Mémoire of Évariste Galois: modern counterexamples to ancient writings

Wed, 10/03/2010
11:30 		Peter Neumann (University of Oxford) Algebra Kinderseminar Add to calendar ChCh, Tom Gate, Room 2
Understanding the Second Mémoire of Évariste Galois: modern counterexamples to ancient writings
The first part of Galois' Second Mémoire, less than three pages of manuscript written in 1830, is devoted to an amazing insight, far ahead of its time. Translated into modern mathematical language (and out of French), it is the theorem that a primitive soluble finite permutation group has prime-power degree. This, and Galois' ideas, and counterexamples to some of them, will be my theme.