9711159 Andrews This award supports a international conference entitled Topics in Number Theory , to be held at Pennsylvania State University, July 30-August 3, 1997. The object is to bring together many researchers whose works represent current trends in number theory. In particular, special emphasis will be on those topics involving substantial interplay between combinatorics, analytic number theory, and arithmetic geometry. This includes works related to the proof of Fermat's Last Theorem , and conjectures concerning special values of L-functions. This research falls into the general mathematical field of Number Theory. Number Theory has its historical roots in the study of whole numbers, addressing such questions as those dealing with the divisibility of one whole number by another. It is among the oldest branches of mathematics and was pursued for many centuries for purely aesthetic reasons. However, within the last half century it has become an indispensable tool with diverse applications in areas such as data transmissions and processing, and communication systems.
