Weil conjectures

In mathematics, the Weil conjectures were some highly influential proposals by André Weil on the generating functions (known as local zeta-functions) derived from counting the number of points on algebraic varieties over finite fields.

Quotes

 * There can be no doubt that proving the Weil conjectures was the ultimate goal that Grothendieck had in mind with his reconstruction of algebraic geometry.


 * Like Moses, André Weil caught sight of the Promised Land, but unlike Moses, he was unable to cross the Red Sea on dry land, nor did he have an adequate vessel.


 * Just as Weil's conjectures were about counting solutions to equations in a situation where the number of solutions is known to be finite, the BSD conjecture concerns the simplest class of polynomial equations—elliptic curves—for which there is no simple way to decide whether the number of solutions is finite or infinite.