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Details of Grant 

EPSRC Reference: EP/Y016769/1
Title: The density of rational points near manifolds and applications
Principal Investigator: Beresnevich, Professor V
Other Investigators:
Researcher Co-Investigators:
Project Partners:
Department: Mathematics
Organisation: University of York
Scheme: Standard Research
Starts: 01 March 2024 Ends: 28 February 2027 Value (£): 442,630
EPSRC Research Topic Classifications:
Algebra & Geometry Mathematical Analysis
EPSRC Industrial Sector Classifications:
No relevance to Underpinning Sectors
Related Grants:
Panel History:
Panel DatePanel NameOutcome
06 Sep 2023 EPSRC Mathematical Sciences Prioritisation Panel September 2023 Announced
Summary on Grant Application Form
Diophantine approximation - the main concern of this project - is an area of number theory which, in simple terms, studies rational approximations to real numbers, that is approximations by fractions of two integers. It dates back to the ancient Greeks and Chinese who used good rational approximations to the number pi (=3.1415...) to predict the position of planets and stars.

Rational points are everywhere dense, that is they are present in a neighborhood of any point, however small that neighborhood is. Nevertheless, the density of their distribution is not the same everywhere. Understanding the distribution of rational points often leads to major challenges. For instance, there are simple statements about the distribution of Farey fractions (rational numbers in the unit interval of bounded denominator) that are equivalent to Riemann Hypothesis - one of the biggest mathematical challenges.

This project aims to investigate the density of the distribution of rational points in small neighborhoods of manifolds, such as curves and surfaces, in n-dimensional spaces. Since manifolds can be defined by systems of equations, the rational points in question arise as approximate solutions to these equations. Therefore the subject matter of this project is closely related to Diophantine equations and Diophantine geometry - two other mainstream areas of mathematics that deal with the existence and density of precise rational solutions to equations.

One of the central goals of this project is to investigate the density of rational points near generic manifolds by classifying and quantifying obstructions: small domains within manifolds that may result in abnormally high or abnormally low density. To achieve this goal we will develop a novel approach bringing together techniques and ideas from several areas including Diophantine approximation, the geometry of numbers and homogeneous dynamics.

The density of rational points near manifolds plays an important role in many other problems in number theory and other disciplines. Thus, we expect that the novel techniques and ideas that we will develop will have a lasting impact on the areas involved and far beyond. Already within this project we will consider applications of results on the density of rational points near manifolds to topical problems in number theory. Specifically we aim to resolve some outstanding problems on the spectrum of Diophantine exponents and multiplicative Diophantine approximations.
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Organisation Website: http://www.york.ac.uk