Celebrating the Mathematics of Pierre Deligne: October 5, 2013

The Simons Foundation division for Mathematics and the Physical Sciences (MPS) is pleased to host Celebrating the Mathematics of Pierre Deligne, a day to share and discuss Pierre Deligne’s contributions to the field of mathematics, in an event organized by the Simons Foundation and Friends of Institut des Hautes Études Scientifiques.

Deligne, of the Institute for Advanced Study in Princeton, New Jersey, has long been a leader in mathematics innovation and exploration. This year, the Norwegian Academy of Science and Letters recognized his pioneering contributions to algebraic geometry by awarding him the Abel Prize.

In recognition of this achievement and of a rigorous and influential career, the Simons Foundation will host a day dedicated to exploring Deligne’s life and work, from his contributions to number theory and hodge symmetries, to his personal reminiscences and letters. Speakers from around the world will gather to discuss his contributions and his indelible impact on the world of mathematics.

Deligne discusses his life, and the role mathematics has played in it, as part of the Simons Foundation’s Science Lives, a series of extended interviews with some of the most influential individuals in 20th-century mathematics and science.

Deligne is perhaps best known for his work on the conjectures posed by André Weil, the last and most difficult of which he completed in 1973. For this achievement, Deligne earned the Fields Medal and, together with Alexandre Grothendieck, the Crafoord Prize.

Since his early accomplishments, Deligne has gone on to distinguished himself as an expert in finding connections between various fields of mathematics, not only between his specialties — algebraic geometry and number theory — but also within several other areas of mathematics.

He has been recognized with the Balzan Prize in Mathematics in 2004, the Wolf Prize in Mathematics, jointly with P. Griffiths and D. Mumford, in 2008, and in 2006 King Albert II of Belgium made Deligne a Viscount.

Morning Session For Mathematicians

Afternoon Session for the General Public