Nathan Ng - Zeros of the Riemann zeta function and L functions

The purpose of my talk is to give an exposition of the methods and history of computing the non-trivial zeros of the Riemann zeta function. I will also discuss the significance of being able to compute these zeros. Lastly, I will give examples of number theoretic applications that result from knowing the values of zeros: the first application will involve irregularities of the distribution of primes and the second application will involve the solution to the class number two problem for complex quadratic fields.