Speaker: Amie Wilkinson (University of Chicago)
Introduced by: Javier Aramayona
Date and time: 6 May 2021, 16:00
Venue: online, at the following link
Abstract: Recurrence is the mathematical version of déjà vu: the movement of a system is recurrent if, after some time, it returns to its initial configuration — or one very similar to it. This talk will present mathematical results on recurrence that can be used to answer a surprising variety of questions, from how two gases mix inside a box to deep properties of prime numbers or the discovery of exoplanets in nearby solar systems.
Recurrence is a central concept in an area of mathematics called dynamics, which studies the movement of spaces (called “dynamical systems”) over time. This discipline was born in the late 19th century as a tool to understand certain physical phenomena, such as the movement of gas molecules inside a box or planets around the Sun.
Amie Wilkinson
Amie Wilkinson is Professor of Mathematics at the University of Chicago (USA). Her work has had a great influence in the field of dynamical systems, which studies the long-term evolution of a space subject to a set of deterministic rules. Specifically, her research focuses on smooth dynamical systems and deals with the interaction between dynamics and other structures of pure mathematics: geometric, statistical, topological, and algebraic. Although her research falls within pure mathematics, Wilkinson has also explored connections between smooth dynamics and the physics of particle accelerator design.
Moreover, Wilkinson also works to bring her research, and mathematics more broadly, to a general audience. For this purpose, she has delivered lectures and written various articles.
A graduate of Harvard University, Wilkinson earned her doctorate at the University of California, Berkeley under the supervision of Charles C. Pugh. Among other distinctions, Wilkinson received the Satter Prize in Mathematics in 2011, and the Levi L. Conant Prize in 2020. She was an invited speaker at the 2010 International Congress of Mathematicians in Hyderabad, India, and is a member of the American Mathematical Society (AMS), the Academia Europaea, and the American Academy of Arts and Sciences.