COLLOQUIUM
Department of Computer Science and Engineering
University of South Carolina

 
Primality Testing in Polynomial Time

Michael Filaseta

Department of Mathematics
University of South Carolina

Date: October 18, 2002 (Friday)
Time: 2:30-3:30PM
Place: Swearingen 1C01 (Amoco Hall)


Abstract

Recently, Manindra Agrawal, Neeraj Kayal and Nitin Saxena of the
Indian Institute of Technology in Kanpur announced an algorithm for
primality testing of an arbitrary integer in polynomial time.  In this
talk, I will discuss their work, by giving their algorithm, explaining
why it is a true primality test, and justifying that it works in
polynomial time.


Michael Filaseta received his Ph.D. from the University of Illinois in
1984 and joined the faculty in the Mathematics Department at the
University of South Carolina that same year.  He has 47 research
papers in the general area of Number Theory.  In 1991, he received
jointly with Ognian Trifonov (also at USC) the Distinguished Award of
the Hardy-Ramanujan Society for work on gaps between squarefree
numbers.  Other specific interests of his include the factorization of
polynomials and, more recently, computations concerning sparse
polynomials.  He has been a PI on three NSF grants, a PI on three NSA
grants, and a co-PI on two NSF SCREMS grants.  In addition, he has
directed 5 doctoral students and 13 Master students.