The Factorial Function and Generalizations

Award: Merten Hasse

Year of Award: 2003

Publication Information: The American Mathematical Monthly, Vol. 107, 2000, pp.783-799.

Summary: A look at the factorial function with emphasis on number theory, ring theory and combinatorics problems.

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About the Author: Manjul Bhargava was born in Hamilton, Ontario, Canada, but spent most of his early years in Long Island, New York. He received his A.B. summa cum laude in mathematics from Harvard University in 1996, and his Ph.D. from Princeton University in 2000. His research interests are primarily in number theory, representation theory, and combinatorics, although he also enjoys algebraic geometry, linguistics, and Indian classical music. He was the recipient of the AMS-MAA-SIAM Frank and Brennie Morgan Prize in 1997, and is a Clay Mathematics Institute Long-Term Prize Fellow and a Visiting Fellow at Princeton University.