Matthew Russell, Rutgers University

Abstract

Roger Apéry shocked the world in 1978 by announcing a proof that zeta(3) was irrational. A lot of the machinery here relies on sums of binomial coefficients, along with other sequences defined recursively, which makes them perfect targets for WZ machinery. I'll spend this weekend teaching these techniques to myself, and then report to you all what I learned on Wednesday at lunch time (which will likely be a high-level overview of the proof process, with emphasis on the parts that are, indeed, shaloshable). Hopefully, it will be fun. And perhaps educational? (At least for Keith.)