Vishwas Bhargava, Rutgers University

Abstract

Finding the least quadratic non-residue in a finite field is of great interest in number theory, Additive Combinatorics, and Theoretical computer science. We will look into a state-of-the-art bound for this which was proved by Burgess in 1963. It is a smart proof with lots of open problems around it. Time permitting, I will also discuss some recent developments