What is number theory?
Number theory, also known as arithmetic, advanced arithmetic and theoretical arithmetic, is a subject that studies the properties and laws of numbers and is one of the branches of pure mathematics. The number theory originated more than 500 BC, and the ancient Greek philosopher Pythagoras was the first scholar to study the nature of numbers. In 300 BC, the ancient Greek mathematician Euclid advanced the study of positive integers. In the book Elements of Geometry, he first gave the definitions of basic concepts such as factor, multiple, prime number and coprime. About 250 years ago, China began to study the theory of congruence by publishing the Art of War and other ancient books. /kloc-in the 0/7th century, the study of integers rose in Europe, and the French mathematician Fermat put forward the "Fermat's Last Theorem". /kloc-In the 8th century, the French mathematician Lagrange first mentioned the name "number theory" in his works. 180 1 year, German mathematician Gauss gave a normative definition of congruence in his book Arithmetic Discussion, which is considered as a milestone in modern number theory. 1844, French mathematician joseph liouville constructed the first batch of transcendental numbers in history, which started the research of transcendental number theory. /kloc-in the middle of the 0/9th century, two branches of algebraic number theory and analytic number theory were born one after another. In the 1990s, computers began to be used in the study of number theory, which enabled many problems of number theory that could not be verified or realized in the past to be realized and proved.