Which integers are the areas of right triangles with three rational sides? This centuries-old question turns out to be related to geometric objects called elliptic curves. Elliptic curves are a powerful tool for attacking this and other number theoretic problems. We will introduce elliptic curves and discuss some deep open questions.

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Karl Rubin is a Professor of Mathematics at Stanford University. He has spent most of his research career studying elliptic curves. He was the first PhD student of Andrew Wiles, who has used elliptic curves to prove Fermat's Last Theorem. He likes to travel and has lectured in more than a dozen countries.

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How to get to Santa Clara University:

101	From US Highway 101, take the De La Cruz Boulevard/Santa Clara exi t and follow the signs to El Camino and the main campus entrance.
280	From I-280, take I-880 north toward Oakland to the Alameda exit. Turn left onto The Alameda (which becomes El Camino Real) to the main campus entrance.
880	From I-880, take the Alameda exit, travel north (The Alameda becomes El Camino Real) to the main campus entrance.