Graduate Student Colloquium

Seda Albayrak, Department of Pure Mathematics, University of Waterloo

"Finite Automata and Transcendence Theory"

Can you imagine proving results in transcendence theory starting from the idea of how turnstiles work? Finite automata allow us to do exactly this. To see how, we will introduce different types of automata (including Turing machines) and how they work. We will then present a theorem of Christol that bridges algebra with the theory of finite automata through the study of k-automatic sequences. Time permitting, we will explore an application of Christol's theorem concerning an analogue of the Riemann zeta function.

MC 5501