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e^(x^2) has no Elementary Antiderivative

When: March 24, 2026
1:00 pm - 2:00 pm
Where: Science Center 232
Speaker: Frank Lu (Harvard)

In calculus, we were told that e^(x^2) doesn’t have a nice antiderivative. But what does that mean exactly, and why? In this talk, we will actually prove this statement, which will take us through the algebraic study of differential equations.