International Centre for Mathematical Sciences

ICMS is delighted to announce the launch of Mathematics for Humanity, a new programme providing opportunities for mathematicians to engage with the challenges of , knowledge-driven and . Further info: https://www.icms.org.uk/funding-opportunities/mathematics-humanity

ICMS mourns Yuri Manin, Director Emeritus of the Max Planck Institute for Mathematics

Yuri Ivanovich Manin, emeritus director of the Max Planck Institute for Mathematics in Bonn, passed away on Saturday, 7 January.

Yuri Manin made fundamental contributions to number theory, algebraic geometry, and mathematical physics, contributions that are themselves just the tip of the iceberg as concerns his incredibly deep and broad insight into mathematics, physics, and other domains of scholarly endeavour. In his mid-twenties, Manin initiated a systematic study of formal groups via the Dieudonne-Manin classification, which set up one of the key themes in arithmetic geometry for 60 years via p-adic Hodge theory, Shimura varieties, and the Langlands programme. Furthermore, he was the originator of numerous streams of research in Diophantine geometry, such as the theory of the Brauer-Manin obstruction or the distributional study of rational points of bounded height on higher-dimensional varieties. His most famous work in number theory was possibly the first proof of the function field Mordell conjecture, in the course of which he introduced the Gauss-Manin connection, a differential equation satisfied by periods of families of algebraic varieties. This simple yet remarkable innovation illustrates well the unity of vision he brought to different areas of mathematics, since the Gauss-Manin connection became an absolutely fundamental tool in number theory, algebraic geometry, and the rich interaction between physics and geometry over the last three decades that has come to be known as ‘mirror symmetry’. Also in mathematical physics, together with Atiyah, Drinfeld, and Hitchin, he gave an algebro-geometric construction of instantons, solutions to the self-dual Yang-Mills equations, which had an enormous impact on the work of Donaldson, Witten, and many others. It has sometimes been referred to as the first application of algebraic geometry to physics.

As a teacher, Manin supervised an army of the most productive and original thinkers in the history of Soviet (and world) mathematics, many of whom went on to become great gurus themselves, such as the Fields medalist Vladimir Drinfeld or the Wolf prize winner Alexander Beilinson. Probably no other single figure has commanded the level of respect he received from the former Soviet mathematical community, both before and after the diaspora.

However, if I were to name the most distinctive characteristic of Yuri Manin as a scholar, I would say that he was the one of the most authentic philosophers among mathematicians of the last hundred years. In his research papers, his expository lectures, and his numerous books, one finds hardly a single superfluous sentence, most of them being steeped in wisdom expressed with inimitable clarity. Many mathematicians, in addition to proving deep theorems, secretly or openly aspire to have a philosophical overview of what mathematics is truly about. There are few indeed who achieved this kind of perspective to the level that Yuri Manin did.

His far-reaching mathematical ideas, his inspiring expositions, and his unadulterated wisdom will be greatly missed by the ICMS community as well as by the world.

Minhyong Kim, Director of the ICMS

There's still time to enter our competition for Maths Week Ireland! Just write us a poem about the and send it in via the link on this page: https://icms.org.uk/news/maths-week-ireland-woongjin-thinkbigicms-schools-competition

In honour of and the event we ran last week at ICMS, we have created a poster about some of the Black Heroes of Maths, past and present. It is free to download, both a digital version and a print version of the file so you can print it yourself, and we also have a limited number of printed copies we can send to your school/institution for free! https://www.icms.org.uk/news/black-heroes-maths-free-download-poster

It has been a pleasure to support the UKAPASI programme. The first event was held online in December 2020.

This week we heard the group final presentations.

Congratulations to the participants, mentors and organisers for a fabulous programme of activity.

Further info on this great initiative is available on the website https://www.icms.org.uk/workshops/2022/uk-apasi-mathematical-sciences

EMS | European Mathematical Society 30th Anniversary Celebration The European Mathematical Society 30th Anniversary Meeting will be held on 31st March at ICMS in Edinburgh. The webpage of the event is here (link).

Clopen* Mic Night is a mathematical variety show featuring mathematicians, performers and maths communicators bringing you a random selection of comedy, music, art, demos and puzzles to share and showcase their love of mathematics.

Clopen Mic Night #2: Clopen Winterval is happening TONIGHT from 8pm (GMT) and you can watch at https://youtu.be/OyBScjWS4Ns or find more info at https://clopenmicnight.com.

We'll be there🍿🍿. Will you?

Clopen Mic Night Clopen Mic Night

ICMS offices (virtual and otherwise) are now closed until Wednesday 5th January 2022.

We wish everyone a Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year.

If you are unable to wait that long for your maths fix, there are 700+ videos on the ICMS Channel.

Media Hopper Create Hastings-McLeod type solutions of an integro-differential Painlevé II hierarchy and their Tracy-Widom formula - S Tarricone

🎉The recording of our 2021 Christmas Lecture is now available. 🎄🎄

Neil Turok (Edinburgh) - Quantum Universe

Enjoy 🎬🍿⬇️⬇️

ICMS Christmas Lecture 2021 - Quantum Universe, Neil Turok ICMS welcome Neil Turok (Edinburgh)  for the 2021 Christmas Lecture, Quantum Universe.  Captions on this video are being edited and will be available in due course.

Thank you to Bernd Schroers (Heriot-Watt) for a terrific public lecture last night.

It was wonderful to welcome some new and some familiar faces to
the Bayes Centre

I'm sure all our attendees are now working out the thermodynamics of how to 'burn off' those reception calories.

ICMS Christmas Lecture - 14 December 2021

Neil Turok (Edinburgh)

Quantum Universe

Options to attend 'In-person' or 'Online'

Register Here

Neil Turok - Quantum Universe The 2021 ICMS Christmas Public Lecture will be given by Professor Neil Turok, Higgs Chair of Theoretical Physics, University of Edinburgh

Public Lecture - 23rd November 2021
Bernd Schroers (Heriot-Watt)

Heat pumps or hydrogen? The thermodynamics of reaching net-zero

Options to attend 'in-person' or online.

Heat pumps or hydrogen? The thermodynamics of reaching net-zero ICMS Edinburgh is delighted to be holding our first in-person public lecture, since early 2020, in the Bayes Centre.