Andrew Booker (mathematician)

{{short description|British mathematician}}

{{Use dmy dates|date=April 2022}}

{{ Infobox scientist

| name = Andrew Booker

| image = AndrewBookerAtBroomBridge_(cropped).jpg

| caption =

| birth_date = 1976

| birth_place =

| nationality = British

| fields = Mathematics

| workplaces = University of Bristol

| alma_mater = {{Plainlist|

| thesis_title = Numerical Tests of Modularity

| thesis_year = 2003

| doctoral_advisor = Peter Sarnak

| doctoral_students =

| known_for =

| awards =

}}

Andrew Richard Booker (born 1976){{Cite web |title=Booker, Andrew R., 1976- |url=https://viaf.org/viaf/7079577/#Booker,_Andrew_R.,_1976- |website=viaf.org |access-date=13 February 2020}} is a British mathematician who is currently Professor of Pure Mathematics at the University of Bristol.{{r|bristol}} He is an analytic number theorist known for his work on L-functions of automorphic forms{{r|aim}} and his contributions to the sums of three cubes problem.{{r|newsweek}}{{r|uvapop}}

Education

Booker graduated from the University of Virginia in 1998, earning the E.J. McShane Prize as the top undergraduate in mathematics.{{r|uvamcshane}} He completed his doctoral degree at Princeton University in 2003, under the supervision of Peter Sarnak.{{r|mathgen}}

Contributions

In the spring of 2019 Booker gained international attention by showing that 33 can be expressed as the sum of three cubes.{{r|newsweek}}{{r|cracking33}}{{r|quanta33}}{{r|newsci33}} At that time 33 and 42 were the only numbers less than 100 for which this problem was open. Later that year, in joint work with Andrew Sutherland of MIT, he settled the case of 42,{{r|bristol42}}{{r|mit42}} as well as answering a 65-year-old question of Mordell by finding a third representation for 3 as the sum of three cubes.{{r|newsci3}} Popular Mechanics cited the result for 42 as one of the top two mathematical breakthroughs of 2019.{{r|uvapop}}{{r|pop2019}}

Video appearances

Numberphile has produced three YouTube videos related to sums of three cubes in which Andrew Booker is the featured guest:

  • [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ASoz_NuIvP0 42 is the new 33]
  • [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zyG8Vlw5aAw The Mystery of 42 is Solved]
  • [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GXhzZAem7k0 3 as a sum of 3 cubes]

As of January 2023 these videos had accumulated a total of almost two million views.{{r|youtubestats}}

Selected publications

  • {{Cite journal |last=Booker |first=Andrew R. |year=2003 |title=Poles of Artin L-functions and the strong Artin conjecture |journal=Annals of Mathematics |volume=158 |issue=3 |pages=1089–1098 |doi=10.4007/annals.2003.158.1089 |mr=2031863 |zbl=1081.11038 |doi-access=free}}
  • {{Cite journal |last1=Booker |first1=Andrew R. |last2=Strömbergsson, Andreas |last3=Venkatesh, Akshay |author-link3=Akshay Venkatesh |year=2006 |title=Effective computation of Maass cusp forms |journal=International Mathematics Research Notices |volume=2006 |pages=71281 |doi=10.1155/IMRN/2006/71281 |mr=2249995 |zbl=1154.11018 |citeseerx=10.1.1.137.3472 |doi-access=}}
  • {{Cite journal |last=Booker |first=Andrew R. |date=2019 |title=Cracking the problem with 33 |journal=Research in Number Theory |language=en |volume=5 |issue=3 |pages=26 |doi=10.1007/s40993-019-0162-1 |arxiv=1903.04284 |issn=2522-0160|doi-access=free }}

References

{{reflist|refs=

{{Citation |title=Professor Andrew Booker |url=http://www.bristol.ac.uk/maths/people/andrew-r-booker/index.html |publisher=University of Bristol |access-date=February 12, 2020}}

{{Citation |title=Undergraduate Awards |url=https://math.virginia.edu/undergraduate/awards/ |publisher=University of Virginia |access-date=February 12, 2020}}

{{Citation |title=Andrew R.Booker |url=https://genealogy.math.ndsu.nodak.edu/id.php?id=71607 |publisher=Mathematics Genealogy Project |access-date=February 12, 2020}}

{{Citation |last=Booker |first=Andrew R. |title=Cracking the problem with 33 |journal=Research in Number Theory |volume=5 |issue=26 |year=2019 |arxiv=1903.04284 |doi=10.1007/s40993-019-0162-1 |mr=3983550 |doi-access=free}}

{{Citation |title=Glimpses of a new (mathematical) world |url=https://aimath.org/news/gl3/ |year=2008 |publisher=American Institute of Mathematics}}

{{Citation |last=Georgiou |first=Aristos |title=The uncracked problem with 33: Mathematician solves 64-year-old 'Diophantine puzzle' |date=April 3, 2019 |url=https://www.newsweek.com/uncracked-problem-mathematician-diophantine-puzzle-1384422 |work=Newsweek}}

{{Citation |title=Popular Mechanics honors Ken Ono and Andrew Booker for the top two math breakthroughs in 2019 |date=January 7, 2020 |url=https://math.virginia.edu/2020/01/Ono-Booker-popmech/ |publisher=University of Virginia |access-date=February 12, 2020}}

{{Citation |last=Pavlus |first=John |title=Sum-of-Three-Cubes Problem Solved for 'Stubborn' Number 33 |date=March 10, 2019 |url=https://www.quantamagazine.org/sum-of-three-cubes-problem-solved-for-stubborn-number-33-20190326/ |work=Quanta Magazine}}

{{Citation |last=Lu |first=Donna |title=Mathematician cracks centuries-old problem about the number 33 |date=March 14, 2019 |url=https://www.newscientist.com/article/2196549-mathematician-cracks-centuries-old-problem-about-the-number-33/ |work=New Scientist}}

{{Citation |title=Sum of three cubes for 42 finally solved – using real life planetary computer |date=September 6, 2019 |url=https://www.bristol.ac.uk/news/2019/september/sum-of-three-cubes-.html |publisher=University of Bristol}}

{{Citation |last=Miller |first=Sandi |title=The answer to life, the universe, and everything: Mathematics researcher Drew Sutherland helps solve decades-old sum-of-three-cubes puzzle, with help from "The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy." |date=September 10, 2019 |url=https://news.mit.edu/2019/answer-life-universe-and-everything-sum-three-cubes-mathematics-0910 |work=MIT News |publisher=Massachusetts Institute of Technology}}

{{Citation |last=Lu |first=Donna |title=Mathematicians find a completely new way to write the number 3 |date=September 18, 2019 |url=https://www.newscientist.com/article/2216941-mathematicians-find-a-completely-new-way-to-write-the-number-3/ |work=New Scientist}}

{{Citation |last=Linkletter |first=Dave |title=The 10 Biggest Math Breakthroughs of 2019 |date=December 27, 2019 |url=https://www.popularmechanics.com/science/math/g30346822/biggest-math-breakthroughs-2019/ |work=Popular Mechanics}}

{{Citation |title=Numberphile channel |url=https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCoxcjq-8xIDTYp3uz647V5A |publisher=YouTube |access-date=14 February 2020}}

}}