Speaker: Zakarias Sjöström Dyrefelt, AIAS Fellow

The seminar is held in-person, but online attendance is possible via:
https://aarhusuniversity.zoom.us/j/67215252700

Abstract

This will be a broad audience talk about a topic that most people will believe is very alien and reputedly inaccessible. Nonetheless, mathematics and geometry is used essentially everywhere in society, whether for technical reasons, or because in its purest form it is simply the art of reasoning. It is also one of the best ways history has taught us to study that which we cannot see or which is too far away to reach; from ancient civilizations understanding that the earth is round, or calculating the distance to the moon using only scribbles in the sand, to big existential questions such as the shape of our universe.

In this seminar, I will present my domain of study at large, and touch upon my AIAS project specifically. The field is complex geometry, which harbours mysteries deeply linked to theoretical physics. On the other hand, the specific concept at the centre of my AIAS project is that of *entropy*, which is inherently interdisciplinary, whether through a chemist studying chemical reactions or a historian or philosopher studying chaos, order, disorder...I will try to explain what role this notion has played in mathematics and geometry in the past, and perhaps more surprisingly, what major questions remain to be answered in the future

Short bio

Dyrefelt's research is in pure mathematics, in the areas of Complex Differential- and Algebraic Geometry. After earning his PhD from École Polytechnique in Paris and Université Paul Sabatier in Toulouse, he has held postdoctoral research positions at CTH in Göteborg, Sweden, and the International Centre for Theoretical Physics (ICTP). Before joining AIAS he will hold the SISSA Mathematical Fellowship in Trieste, Italy.

Read about Zakarias Sjöström Dyrefelt's project at AIAS here

What is an AIAS Seminar?

The AIAS Seminar is a session of seminars held by the AIAS fellow or by other speakers proposed by the fellows. In each seminar, one fellow will present and discuss his/her current research and research project, closing off with a question and discussion session.

All seminars are held in English.