Mathematical Sciences 2016

Total Page:16

File Type:pdf, Size:1020Kb

Mathematical Sciences 2016 Infosys Prize Mathematical Sciences 2016 Number theory is the branch Ancient civilizations developed intricate of mathematics that deals with methods of counting. Sumerians, Mayans properties of whole numbers or and Greeks all show evidence of elaborate positive integers. mathematical calculations. Akshay Venkatesh Professor, Department of Mathematics, Stanford University, USA • B.Sc. in Mathematics from The University of Western Australia, Perth, Australia • Ph.D. in Mathematics from Princeton University, USA Numbers are Prof. Akshay Venkatesh is a very broad mathematician everything who has worked at the highest level in number theory, arithmetic geometry, topology, automorphic forms and Number theorists are particularly interested in ergodic theory. He is almost unique in his ability to fuse hyperbolic ‘tilings’. These ‘tiles’ carry a great deal of information that are significant in algebraic and analytic ideas to solve concrete and hard number theory. For example they are very problems in number theory. In addition, Venkatesh’s work on the interested in the characteristic frequencies of cohomology of arithmetic groups the tiles. These are the frequencies the tiles studies the shape of these tiles and would vibrate at, if they were used as drums. “I think there’s a lot of math in the world that’s not connects it with other areas of math. at university. Pure math is only one part of math but math is used in a lot of other subjects and I think that’s just as interesting. So learn as much as you can, about all the subjects around math and then see what strikes you as the most interesting.” Prof. Venkatesh works in the field of This is ergodic number theory and observes such theory—a branch of fascinating phenomena as what would mathematics that studies the trajectories of a billiard ball look dynamical systems with like, if one of these hyperbolic (curved) an invariant measure and tiles were to be used as a billiard table. related problems..
Recommended publications
  • After Ramanujan Left Us– a Stock-Taking Exercise S
    Ref: after-ramanujanls.tex Ver. Ref.: : 20200426a After Ramanujan left us– a stock-taking exercise S. Parthasarathy [email protected] 1 Remembering a giant This article is a sequel to my article on Ramanujan [14]. April 2020 will mark the death centenary of the legendary Indian mathe- matician – Srinivasa Ramanujan (22 December 1887 – 26 April 1920). There will be celebrations of course, but one way to honour Ramanujan would be to do some introspection and stock-taking. This is a short survey of notable achievements and contributions to mathematics by Indian institutions and by Indian mathematicians (born in India) and in the last hundred years since Ramanujan left us. It would be highly unfair to compare the achievements of an individual, Ramanujan, during his short life span (32 years), with the achievements of an entire nation over a century. We should also consider the context in which Ramanujan lived, and the most unfavourable and discouraging situation in which he grew up. We will still attempt a stock-taking, to record how far we have moved after Ramanujan left us. Note : The table below should not be used to compare the relative impor- tance or significance of the contributions listed there. It is impossible to list out the entire galaxy of mathematicians for a whole century. The table below may seem incomplete and may contain some inad- vertant errors. If you notice any major lacunae or omissions, or if you have any suggestions, please let me know at [email protected]. 1 April 1920 – April 2020 Year Name/instit. Topic Recognition 1 1949 Dattatreya Kaprekar constant, Ramchandra Kaprekar number Kaprekar [1] [2] 2 1968 P.C.
    [Show full text]
  • Program of the Sessions San Diego, California, January 9–12, 2013
    Program of the Sessions San Diego, California, January 9–12, 2013 AMS Short Course on Random Matrices, Part Monday, January 7 I MAA Short Course on Conceptual Climate Models, Part I 9:00 AM –3:45PM Room 4, Upper Level, San Diego Convention Center 8:30 AM –5:30PM Room 5B, Upper Level, San Diego Convention Center Organizer: Van Vu,YaleUniversity Organizers: Esther Widiasih,University of Arizona 8:00AM Registration outside Room 5A, SDCC Mary Lou Zeeman,Bowdoin upper level. College 9:00AM Random Matrices: The Universality James Walsh, Oberlin (5) phenomenon for Wigner ensemble. College Preliminary report. 7:30AM Registration outside Room 5A, SDCC Terence Tao, University of California Los upper level. Angles 8:30AM Zero-dimensional energy balance models. 10:45AM Universality of random matrices and (1) Hans Kaper, Georgetown University (6) Dyson Brownian Motion. Preliminary 10:30AM Hands-on Session: Dynamics of energy report. (2) balance models, I. Laszlo Erdos, LMU, Munich Anna Barry*, Institute for Math and Its Applications, and Samantha 2:30PM Free probability and Random matrices. Oestreicher*, University of Minnesota (7) Preliminary report. Alice Guionnet, Massachusetts Institute 2:00PM One-dimensional energy balance models. of Technology (3) Hans Kaper, Georgetown University 4:00PM Hands-on Session: Dynamics of energy NSF-EHR Grant Proposal Writing Workshop (4) balance models, II. Anna Barry*, Institute for Math and Its Applications, and Samantha 3:00 PM –6:00PM Marina Ballroom Oestreicher*, University of Minnesota F, 3rd Floor, Marriott The time limit for each AMS contributed paper in the sessions meeting will be found in Volume 34, Issue 1 of Abstracts is ten minutes.
    [Show full text]
  • 2004 Research Fellows
    I Institute News 2004 Research Fellows On February 23, 2004, the Clay Mathematics Institute announced the appointment of four Research Fellows: Ciprian Manolescu and Maryam Mirzakhani of Harvard University, and András Vasy and Akshay Venkatesh of MIT. These outstanding mathematicians were selected for their research achievements and their potential to make signifi cant future contributions. Ci ian Man lescu 1 a nati e R mania is c m letin his h at Ha a ni Ciprian Manolescu pr o (b. 978), v of o , o p g P .D. rv rd U - versity under the direction of Peter B. Kronheimer. In his undergraduate thesis he gave an elegant new construction of Seiberg-Witten Floer homology, and in his Ph.D. thesis he gave a remarkable gluing formula for the Bauer-Furuta invariants of four-manifolds. His research interests span the areas of gauge theory, low-dimensional topology, symplectic geometry and algebraic topology. Manolescu will begin his four-year appointment as a Research Fellow at Princeton University beginning July 1, 2004. Maryam Mirzakhani Maryam Mirzakhani (b. 1977), a native of Iran, is completing her Ph.D. at Harvard under the direction of Curtis T. McMullen. In her thesis she showed how to compute the Weil- Petersson volume of the moduli space of bordered Riemann surfaces. Her research interests include Teichmuller theory, hyperbolic geometry, ergodic theory and symplectic geometry. As a high school student, Mirzakhani entered and won the International Mathematical Olympiad on two occasions (in 1994 and 1995). Mirzakhani will conduct her research at Princeton University at the start of her four-year appointment as a Research Fellow beginning July 1, 2004.
    [Show full text]
  • Mathematics People
    Mathematics People Akshay Venkatesh was born in New Delhi in 1981 but Venkatesh Awarded 2008 was raised in Perth, Australia. He showed his brillance in SASTRA Ramanujan Prize mathematics very early and was awarded the Woods Me- morial Prize in 1997, when he finished his undergraduate Akshay Venkatesh of Stanford University has been studies at the University of Western Australia. He did his awarded the 2008 SASTRA Ramanujan Prize. This annual doctoral studies at Princeton under Peter Sarnak, complet- prize is given for outstanding contributions to areas of ing his Ph.D. in 2002. He was C.L.E. Moore Instructor at the mathematics influenced by the Indian genius Srinivasa Massachusetts Institute of Technology for two years and Ramanujan. The age limit for the prize has been set at was selected as a Clay Research Fellow in 2004. He served thirty-two, because Ramanujan achieved so much in his as associate professor at the Courant Institute of Math- brief life of thirty-two years. The prize carries a cash award ematical Sciences at New York University and received the of US$10,000. Salem Prize and a Packard Fellowship in 2007. He is now professor of mathematics at Stanford University. The 2008 SASTRA Prize Citation reads as follows: “Ak- The 2008 SASTRA Ramanujan Prize Committee con- shay Venkatesh is awarded the 2008 SASTRA Ramanujan sisted of Krishnaswami Alladi (chair), Manjul Bhargava, Prize for his phenomenal contributions to a wide variety Bruce Berndt, Jonathan Borwein, Stephen Milne, Kannan of areas in mathematics, including number theory, auto- Soundararajan, and Michel Waldschmidt. Previous winners morphic forms, representation theory, locally symmetric of the SASTRA Ramanujan Prize are Manjul Bhargava and spaces, and ergodic theory, by himself and in collabora- Kannan Soundararajan (2005), Terence Tao (2006), and tion with several mathematicians.
    [Show full text]
  • 2019-2020 Award #1440415 August 10, 2020
    Institute for Pure and Applied Mathematics, UCLA Annual Progress Report for 2019-2020 Award #1440415 August 10, 2020 TABLE OF CONTENTS EXECUTIVE SUMMARY .................................................................................................................... 2 A. PARTICIPANT LIST ....................................................................................................................... 4 B. FINANCE SUPPORT LIST ............................................................................................................. 4 C. INCOME AND EXPENDITURE REPORT .................................................................................... 4 D. POSTDOCTORAL PLACEMENT LIST ........................................................................................ 5 E. MATH INSTITUTE DIRECTORS’ MEETING REPORT ............................................................. 6 F. PARTICIPANT SUMMARY .......................................................................................................... 20 G. POSTDOCTORAL PROGRAM SUMMARY............................................................................... 23 H. GRADUATE STUDENT PROGRAM SUMMARY ...................................................................... 24 I. UNDERGRADUATE STUDENT PROGRAM SUMMARY .......................................................... 25 J. PROGRAM DESCRIPTION .......................................................................................................... 25 K. PROGRAM CONSULTANT LIST ...............................................................................................
    [Show full text]
  • Number-Theory Prodigy Among Winners of Coveted Maths Prize Fields Medals Awarded to Researchers in Number Theory, Geometry and Differential Equations
    NEWS IN FOCUS nature means these states are resistant to topological states. But in 2017, Andrei Bernevig, Bernevig and his colleagues also used their change, and thus stable to temperature fluctua- a physicist at Princeton University in New Jersey, method to create a new topological catalogue. tions and physical distortion — features that and Ashvin Vishwanath, at Harvard University His team used the Inorganic Crystal Structure could make them useful in devices. in Cambridge, Massachusetts, separately pio- Database, filtering its 184,270 materials to find Physicists have been investigating one class, neered approaches6,7 that speed up the process. 5,797 “high-quality” topological materials. The known as topological insulators, since the prop- The techniques use algorithms to sort materi- researchers plan to add the ability to check a erty was first seen experimentally in 2D in a thin als automatically into material’s topology, and certain related fea- sheet of mercury telluride4 in 2007 and in 3D in “It’s up to databases on the basis tures, to the popular Bilbao Crystallographic bismuth antimony a year later5. Topological insu- experimentalists of their chemistry and Server. A third group — including Vishwa- lators consist mostly of insulating material, yet to uncover properties that result nath — also found hundreds of topological their surfaces are great conductors. And because new exciting from symmetries in materials. currents on the surface can be controlled using physical their structure. The Experimentalists have their work cut out. magnetic fields, physicists think the materials phenomena.” symmetries can be Researchers will be able to comb the databases could find uses in energy-efficient ‘spintronic’ used to predict how to find new topological materials to explore.
    [Show full text]
  • Issue 118 ISSN 1027-488X
    NEWSLETTER OF THE EUROPEAN MATHEMATICAL SOCIETY S E European M M Mathematical E S Society December 2020 Issue 118 ISSN 1027-488X Obituary Sir Vaughan Jones Interviews Hillel Furstenberg Gregory Margulis Discussion Women in Editorial Boards Books published by the Individual members of the EMS, member S societies or societies with a reciprocity agree- E European ment (such as the American, Australian and M M Mathematical Canadian Mathematical Societies) are entitled to a discount of 20% on any book purchases, if E S Society ordered directly at the EMS Publishing House. Recent books in the EMS Monographs in Mathematics series Massimiliano Berti (SISSA, Trieste, Italy) and Philippe Bolle (Avignon Université, France) Quasi-Periodic Solutions of Nonlinear Wave Equations on the d-Dimensional Torus 978-3-03719-211-5. 2020. 374 pages. Hardcover. 16.5 x 23.5 cm. 69.00 Euro Many partial differential equations (PDEs) arising in physics, such as the nonlinear wave equation and the Schrödinger equation, can be viewed as infinite-dimensional Hamiltonian systems. In the last thirty years, several existence results of time quasi-periodic solutions have been proved adopting a “dynamical systems” point of view. Most of them deal with equations in one space dimension, whereas for multidimensional PDEs a satisfactory picture is still under construction. An updated introduction to the now rich subject of KAM theory for PDEs is provided in the first part of this research monograph. We then focus on the nonlinear wave equation, endowed with periodic boundary conditions. The main result of the monograph proves the bifurcation of small amplitude finite-dimensional invariant tori for this equation, in any space dimension.
    [Show full text]
  • Mathematics People
    Mathematics People information, sometimes even one incorrect bit can de- Chudnovsky and Spielman stroy the integrity of the data stream; adding verification Selected as MacArthur Fellows ‘codes’ to the data helps to test its accuracy. Spielman and collaborators developed several families of codes Maria Chudnovsky of Columbia University and Dan- that optimize speed and reliability, some approaching the iel Spielman of Yale University have been named Mac- theoretical limit of performance. One, an enhanced version Arthur Fellows for 2012. Each Fellow receives a grant of of low-density parity checking, is now used to broadcast US$500,000 in support, with no strings attached, over the and decode high-definition television transmissions. In a next five years. separate line of research, Spielman resolved an enduring Chudnovsky was honored for her work on the classifica- mystery of computer science: why a venerable algorithm tions and properties of graphs. The prize citation reads, for optimization (e.g., to compute the fastest route to the “Maria Chudnovsky is a mathematician who investigates airport, picking up three friends along the way) usually the fundamental principles of graph theory. In mathemat- works better in practice than theory would predict. He and ics, a graph is an abstraction that represents a set of similar a collaborator proved that small amounts of randomness things and the connections between them—e.g., cities and convert worst-case conditions into problems that can be the roads connecting them, networks of friendship among solved much faster. This finding holds enormous practi- people, websites and their links to other sites. When used cal implications for a myriad of calculations in science, to solve real-world problems, like efficient scheduling for engineering, social science, business, and statistics that an airline or package delivery service, graphs are usually depend on the simplex algorithm or its derivatives.
    [Show full text]
  • Mathematics People
    NEWS Mathematics People “In 1972, Rainer Weiss wrote down in an MIT report his Weiss, Barish, and ideas for building a laser interferometer that could detect Thorne Awarded gravitational waves. He had thought this through carefully and described in detail the physics and design of such an Nobel Prize in Physics instrument. This is typically called the ‘birth of LIGO.’ Rai Weiss’s vision, his incredible insights into the science and The Royal Swedish Academy of Sci- challenges of building such an instrument were absolutely ences has awarded the 2017 Nobel crucial to make out of his original idea the successful Prize in Physics to Rainer Weiss, experiment that LIGO has become. Barry C. Barish, and Kip S. Thorne, “Kip Thorne has done a wealth of theoretical work in all of the LIGO/Virgo Collaboration, general relativity and astrophysics, in particular connected for their “decisive contributions to with gravitational waves. In 1975, a meeting between the LIGO detector and the observa- Rainer Weiss and Kip Thorne from Caltech marked the tion of gravitational waves.” Weiss beginning of the complicated endeavors to build a gravi- receives one-half of the prize; Barish tational wave detector. Rai Weiss’s incredible insights into and Thorne share one-half. the science and challenges of building such an instrument Rainer Weiss combined with Kip Thorne’s theoretical expertise with According to the prize citation, gravitational waves, as well as his broad connectedness “LIGO, the Laser Interferometer with several areas of physics and funding agencies, set Gravitational-Wave Observatory, is the path toward a larger collaboration.
    [Show full text]
  • Notices of the American Mathematical
    ISSN 0002-9920 Notices of the American Mathematical Society AMERICAN MATHEMATICAL SOCIETY Graduate Studies in Mathematics Series The volumes in the GSM series are specifically designed as graduate studies texts, but are also suitable for recommended and/or supplemental course reading. With appeal to both students and professors, these texts make ideal independent study resources. The breadth and depth of the series’ coverage make it an ideal acquisition for all academic libraries that of the American Mathematical Society support mathematics programs. al January 2010 Volume 57, Number 1 Training Manual Optimal Control of Partial on Transport Differential Equations and Fluids Theory, Methods and Applications John C. Neu FROM THE GSM SERIES... Fredi Tro˝ltzsch NEW Graduate Studies Graduate Studies in Mathematics in Mathematics Volume 109 Manifolds and Differential Geometry Volume 112 ocietty American Mathematical Society Jeffrey M. Lee, Texas Tech University, Lubbock, American Mathematical Society TX Volume 107; 2009; 671 pages; Hardcover; ISBN: 978-0-8218- 4815-9; List US$89; AMS members US$71; Order code GSM/107 Differential Algebraic Topology From Stratifolds to Exotic Spheres Mapping Degree Theory Matthias Kreck, Hausdorff Research Institute for Enrique Outerelo and Jesús M. Ruiz, Mathematics, Bonn, Germany Universidad Complutense de Madrid, Spain Volume 110; 2010; approximately 215 pages; Hardcover; A co-publication of the AMS and Real Sociedad Matemática ISBN: 978-0-8218-4898-2; List US$55; AMS members US$44; Española (RSME). Order code GSM/110 Volume 108; 2009; 244 pages; Hardcover; ISBN: 978-0-8218- 4915-6; List US$62; AMS members US$50; Ricci Flow and the Sphere Theorem The Art of Order code GSM/108 Simon Brendle, Stanford University, CA Mathematics Volume 111; 2010; 176 pages; Hardcover; ISBN: 978-0-8218- page 8 Training Manual on Transport 4938-5; List US$47; AMS members US$38; and Fluids Order code GSM/111 John C.
    [Show full text]
  • From Rational Billiards to Dynamics on Moduli Spaces
    FROM RATIONAL BILLIARDS TO DYNAMICS ON MODULI SPACES ALEX WRIGHT Abstract. This short expository note gives an elementary intro- duction to the study of dynamics on certain moduli spaces, and in particular the recent breakthrough result of Eskin, Mirzakhani, and Mohammadi. We also discuss the context and applications of this result, and connections to other areas of mathematics such as algebraic geometry, Teichm¨ullertheory, and ergodic theory on homogeneous spaces. Contents 1. Rational billiards 1 2. Translation surfaces 3 3. The GL(2; R) action 7 4. Renormalization 9 5. Eskin-Mirzakhani-Mohammadi's breakthrough 10 6. Applications of Eskin-Mirzakhani-Mohammadi's Theorem 11 7. Context from homogeneous spaces 12 8. The structure of the proof 14 9. Relation to Teichm¨ullertheory and algebraic geometry 15 10. What to read next 17 References 17 1. Rational billiards Consider a point bouncing around in a polygon. Away from the edges, the point moves at unit speed. At the edges, the point bounces according to the usual rule that angle of incidence equals angle of re- flection. If the point hits a vertex, it stops moving. The path of the point is called a billiard trajectory. The study of billiard trajectories is a basic problem in dynamical systems and arises naturally in physics. For example, consider two points of different masses moving on a interval, making elastic collisions 2 WRIGHT with each other and with the endpoints. This system can be modeled by billiard trajectories in a right angled triangle [MT02]. A rational polygon is a polygon all of whose angles are rational mul- tiples of π.
    [Show full text]
  • Mathematics People
    Mathematics People The AIM five-year fellowships are awarded each year to Paulos Receives AAAS Award outstanding new Ph.D. students in an area of pure math- JOHN ALLEN PAULOS of Temple University has received the ematics. The fellowships cover sixty months of full-time 2003 Award for Public Understanding of Science and Tech- research, as well as funds for travel and equipment. Each nology of the American Association for the Advancement fellowship carries a stipend of $4,000 per month, with of Science (AAAS). Paulos received his Ph.D. from the an additional $4,000 per year allocated for travel and University of Wisconsin. He has written a number of equipment. books intended to increase public understanding and —From an AIM announcement appreciation of mathematics, including Innumeracy, A Mathematician Reads the Newspaper, Once upon a Number, and A Mathematician Plays the Stock Market. His articles have appeared in the The New York Times and Duquesne Receives Meyer Prize The Wall Street Journal and in Forbes and Discover The Institut de Recherche Mathématique Avancée (IRMA) magazines, among others. has created an annual prize in memory of the mathe- He is particularly interested in probability, logic, and the matician Paul André Meyer (1934–2003), who spent his philosophy of science. He is a popular speaker and radio career at IRMA. The prize honors an outstanding and television commentator. The award, which recognizes young probabilist working, as Meyer did, in the field of scientists and engineers who make outstanding contribu- stochastic processes. IRMA, which is in Strasbourg, is a tions to the “popularization of science”, carries a prize of laboratory of the Centre National de la Recherche Scien- $5,000 and a commemorative plaque.
    [Show full text]