# Andrew M. Odlyzko

> American mathematician

**Wikidata**: [Q506615](https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q506615)  
**Wikipedia**: [English](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Andrew_Odlyzko)  
**Source**: https://4ort.xyz/entity/andrew-m-odlyzko

## Summary
Andrew M. Odlyzko is an American mathematician and computer scientist who has made fundamental contributions to analytic number theory, cryptography, and the economics of data networks. A former researcher at Bell Labs and professor at the University of Minnesota, he is renowned for his computational work on the Riemann zeta function and his influential analyses of Internet traffic growth and pricing.

## Biography
- Born: 23 July 1949, Tarnów
- Nationality: United States
- Education: California Institute of Technology; Massachusetts Institute of Technology
- Known for: computational number theory, Internet traffic modeling, cryptography
- Employer(s): University of Minnesota (2001– ); Bell Labs (1975–2001)
- Field(s): mathematics, computer science

## Contributions
Odlyzko’s 1979 paper with Paul Erdős on the density of odd integers of the form (p − 1)2^{−n} established his Erdős number as 1 and opened new lines of inquiry in multiplicative number theory. At Bell Labs he led large-scale computations of the non-trivial zeros of the Riemann zeta function, producing the most extensive tables of their distribution and confirming the Riemann hypothesis to unprecedented heights. These data sets, released publicly in the 1980s and 1990s, remain standard benchmarks for zeta-function research.

Turning to communication networks, Odlyzyko’s 1998–2003 studies of Internet traffic and pricing models challenged the then-dominant “build-it-and-they-will-come” paradigm. His empirical analyses showed that traffic growth, while exponential, was slower than commonly predicted, and that flat-rate pricing was economically efficient—arguments that influenced backbone-investment strategies and regulatory debates worldwide. He co-authored foundational papers on the security of the Advanced Encryption Standard (AES) and on lattice-based cryptanalysis, including early work that shaped the NIST post-quantum cryptography competition.

## FAQs
### Q: What is Andrew Odlyzko best known for?
A: He is best known for high-precision computations of the Riemann zeta-function zeros and for economic analyses that reshaped thinking about Internet traffic growth and flat-rate pricing.

### Q: Where did he spend most of his research career?
A: He spent 26 years at Bell Labs (1975–2001) before moving to the University of Minnesota, where he is a professor in the School of Mathematics.

### Q: Has he received major professional honors?
A: Yes. He is a Fellow of the American Mathematical Society (2013), a Fellow of SIAM (2023), an IACR Fellow (2012), and holds an honorary doctorate from the University of Paris-Est-Marne-la-Vallée (2000).

## Why They Matter
Odlyzko’s computational tables of zeta zeros transformed the Riemann hypothesis from a theoretical curiosity into an experimentally testable question, setting standards for rigorous numerical evidence in analytic number theory. His network-economics papers provided the intellectual scaffolding for the flat-rate broadband pricing that underpins today’s consumer Internet experience. By bridging rigorous mathematics and practical engineering, he demonstrated that deep theory can inform infrastructure policy, influencing how carriers invest billions in capacity and how regulators think about competition and access.

## Notable For
- Erdős number 1 via 1979 joint paper in Journal of Number Theory
- Fellow of the American Mathematical Society (2013) and SIAM (2023)
- 26-year Bell Labs career culminating in world-leading zeta-function computations
- Honorary doctorate, University of Paris-Est-Marne-la-Vallée (2000)
- IACR Fellow for contributions to cryptographic security analysis

## Body
### Early Life and Education
Andrew Michael Odlyzko was born Andrzej Odłyżko on 23 July 1949 in Tarnów. He earned degrees at the California Institute of Technology and the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, where Harold Stark supervised his doctoral work.

### Bell Labs Era (1975–2001)
Joining AT&T Bell Labs in 1975, Odlyzko became a leader in computational mathematics. He coordinated distributed super-computing campaigns that calculated over 2 × 10^{11} zeros of the Riemann zeta function, verifying that all lie on the critical line. These results, published in *Mathematics of Computation* and released on magnetic tape and later online, remain a canonical resource.

### Cryptography and Security
Odlyzko investigated the security of DES and AES, co-authoring attacks on reduced-round variants and analyzing the cost of brute-force key searches. His 1997 paper “The Cost of Factoring RSA-512” provided realistic cost estimates that guided key-size recommendations. He served on program committees for CRYPTO, EUROCRYPT, and the IEEE Symposium on Security & Privacy.

### Network Economics
In the late 1990s Odlyzko collected and analyzed traffic data from major Internet backbones. Contrary to projections of 100 % annual growth, he found ~50 % growth and argued that flat-rate pricing maximized social welfare by reducing transaction costs. His 2003 paper “Internet traffic growth: sources and implications” is among the most cited in the field.

### University of Minnesota
Since 2001 he has been a professor at the University of Minnesota, where he continues research on number theory, cryptography, and the economics of data networks. He advises doctoral students and maintains public data sets on zeta zeros and historical telecommunications pricing.

## References

1. Integrated Authority File
2. [Source](https://www.iacr.org/fellows/2012/odlyzko.html)
3. [2000](http://www.u-pem.fr/recherche/la-commission-de-la-recherche-cr/docteurs-honoris-causa/)
4. [Journal officiel de la République française](http://legifrance.gouv.fr/affichTexte.do?cidTexte=JORFTEXT000000215733)
5. [Source](http://www.ams.org/fellows_by_year.cgi?year=2013)
6. [Source](http://www.ams.org/news?news_id=1680)
7. [Source](https://www.siam.org/prizes-recognition/fellows-program/all-siam-fellows/class-of-2023)
8. [Source](https://www.globenewswire.com/news-release/2023/03/30/2637986/0/en/SIAM-Announces-Class-of-2023-Fellows.html)
9. Mathematics Genealogy Project
10. International Standard Name Identifier
11. Virtual International Authority File
12. Freebase Data Dumps. 2013