Elliptic curve theory

Could someone help me this elliptic curve theory....

I've been trying to find something out about it but whats offered on the web isn't really clicking with my head.


Could someone give me the definition of what

Y^2[+X*Y] = X^3+A*X^2+B IS????

ALL I GOT IS THAT X AND Y ARE VARIABLES
AND A AND B ARE CONSTANTS.

Can someone define this for me???


if you can get on an elliptic curve of time and experience many realities
by simply going around the elliptical curve and discovering that, as time is not "solid," neither
is reality.

Mathworld to the rescue:

Elliptic Curve
Elliptic Curves Topic Section
Mathematical Atlas: Elliptic Curves

The last one is the best, it has a lot of links to different articles on different levels.

Thank you so much, I was beating my head over this!