Dirichlet's Theorem On Arithmetic Progressions - History

History

Euler stated that every arithmetic progression beginning with 1 contains an infinite number of primes. The theorem in the above form was first conjectured by Legendre in his attempted unsuccessful proofs of quadratic reciprocity and proved by Dirichlet in (Dirichlet 1837) with Dirichlet L-series. The proof is modeled on Euler's earlier work relating the Riemann zeta function to the distribution of primes. The theorem represents the beginning of rigorous analytic number theory.

Atle Selberg (1949) gave an elementary proof.

Read more about this topic:  Dirichlet's Theorem On Arithmetic Progressions

Famous quotes containing the word history:

    Certainly there is not the fight recorded in Concord history, at least, if in the history of America, that will bear a moment’s comparison with this, whether for the numbers engaged in it, or for the patriotism and heroism displayed.
    Henry David Thoreau (1817–1862)

    ... in America ... children are instructed in the virtues of the system they live under, as though history had achieved a happy ending in American civics.
    Mary McCarthy (1912–1989)

    We may pretend that we’re basically moral people who make mistakes, but the whole of history proves otherwise.
    Terry Hands (b. 1941)