Related papers: Pierre Cartier: A Visionary Mathematician
Errico Presutti was a leading figure in mathematical physics and an important contributor to rigorous results in statistical mechanics. Due to his strong scientific personality and human qualities, there are many who remember Errico…
The concept of antimatter is extremely important, but not always discussed as it deserves, balancing ideas and formalism. In this note, we gather some insights to present it effectively, following certain steps taken in the history of…
Vladimir Andreevich Uspensky [1930-2018] was one of the Soviet pioneers of the theory of computation and mathematical logic in general (and my teacher and thesis advisor). This paper is the survey of his mathematical works and their…
Sir Arthur Eddington is considered one of the greatest astrophysicist of the twentieth century and yet he gained a stigma when, in the 1930s, he embarked on a quest to develop a unified theory of gravity and quantum mechanics. His attempts…
I shall use a few personal reminiscences of my time as a student and colleague of Dirac in Cambridge to introduce some reflections on the nature of research in theoretical physics. I shall discuss and illustrate the approach of Dirac to his…
This article was written on the occasion of Hans Grauert receiving the Cantor Medallion of the Deutsche Mathematische Vereinigung. It is a brief overview of his mathematical contributions and attempts to convey the author's great respect…
Jonathan M. Borwein (1951-2016) was a prolific mathematician whose career spanned several countries (UK, Canada, USA, Australia) and whose many interests included analysis, optimisation, number theory, special functions, experimental…
I discuss some general aspects of the creation, interpretation, and reception of mathematics as a part of civilization and culture.
The volume of a Cartier divisor on a projective variety is a nonnegative real number that measures the asymptotic growth of sections of multiples of the divisor. It is known that the set of these numbers is countable and has the structure…
The following notes are intended to make a small digression on the topics mentioned in the title of the same, since these were not addressed in the past tribute by the Institute of Physics of the UdeA. We believe more than platitude try to…
Various 'optimistic' attempts have been made to reasonably explain the undeniable effectiveness of mathematics in its application to physics. They range over retrospective, historical accounts of mathematical applicability based on…
Mathematics enters the period of change unprecedented in its history, perhaps even a revolution: a switch to use of computers as assistants and checkers in production of proofs. This requires rethinking traditional approaches to mathematics…
Gian-Carlo Rota once asserted that "every mathematician only has a few tricks". The sheer breadth and ingenuity in the work of Jean Bourgain may at first glance appear to be a counterexample to this maxim. However, as we hope to illustrate…
Academic biography of Karl Weierstrass, his basic works, influence of his doctrine on the development of mathematics.
Mathematics has become inescapable in modern, digitized societies: there is hardly any area of life left that isn't affected by it, and we as mathematicians play a central role in this. Our actions affect what others, in particular our…
The monumental treatise "\'El\'ements de math\'ematique" of N. Bourbaki is based on the notion of structure and on the theory of sets. On the other hand, the theory of categories is based on the notions of morphism and functor. An…
Sophie Germain (1776-1831) was the first woman we know who did important original research in mathematics, specifically in elasticity theory and number theory. Celebrating her semiquincentennial year, we outline Germain's recently unearthed…
This purely recreational paper is about one of the most colorful characters of the Italian Renaissance, Girolamo Cardano, and the discovery of two basic ingredients of quantum theory, probability and complex numbers. The paper is dedicated…
Back in 1755, Euler explored an interesting array of numbers that now frequently appears in polynomial identities, combinatorial problems, and finite calculus, among other places. These numbers share a strong connection with well-known…
Richard Stanley played a crucial role, through his work and his students, in the development of the relatively new area known as combinatorial representation theory. In the early stages, he has the merit to have pointed out to…