ELI5: Explain Like I'm 5

Hilbert modular form

Let's pretend you have some toys that fit together like puzzle pieces - maybe they're blocks or Legos. You can make lots of different shapes and structures with these toys, depending on how you put them together.

In math, there's a similar idea called a "modular form." It's like a big puzzle made out of numbers instead of toys. A modular form is a special kind of math formula - it's a bit like a recipe that tells you how to put numbers together in a certain way.

So what's a "Hilbert modular form"? Well, let's imagine that you have not just one set of puzzle toys, but many different sets - maybe one set is made of squares, another of triangles, and so on. Each set has its own set of rules for how the pieces fit together.

In math, this is kind of like having many different "modular forms" that are all related to each other. These related forms are called "Hilbert modular forms." They're named after a mathematician named David Hilbert, who figured out a special way to study these kinds of forms.

Hilbert modular forms are useful for lots of different things in math, like studying symmetry and understanding the relationships between different kinds of numbers. They're a bit like different flavors of ice cream - each one is different, but they're all similar in some way.

So, to sum it up: a Hilbert modular form is a kind of special math formula that's related to other similar formulas, kind of like different flavors of ice cream. They're used for studying symmetry and relationships between numbers.
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