Mathematics Inaugural Lecture: Professors Dmitri Panov and Igor Wigman

Please note: this event has passed

You're warmly invited in-person or online to our inaugural lecture event series with speakers from the Department of Mathematics, Professor Dmitri Panov and Professor Igor Wigman.

The Inaugural Lecture Series from the Faculty of Natural, Mathematical & Engineering Sciences (NMES) celebrates the journeys and career successes of our newly appointed professors, to provide insight and inspiration from the faculty's leading scientists.

Dmitri and Igor, both Professors of Mathematics, will present on the ground-breaking research accomplished through their careers. Afterwards, there will be a chance to raise a glass to their achievements over drinks at our reception.

Schedule:

16:45 - 17:00 Registration opens

17:00 - 17:05 Welcome/opening remarks: Professor Mark French, Interim Executive Dean of the Faculty of Natural, Mathematical & Engineering Sciences

17:05 - 17:30 The geometrisation of complex manifolds by Professor Dmitri Panov

17:30 - 17:35 Vote of thanks

17:35 - 18:00 The geometry of numbers, random functions, and music by Professor Igor Wigman

18:00 - 18:05 Vote of thanks

18:05 - 18:10 Closing remarks: Professor Mark French, Interim Executive Dean of the Faculty of Natural, Mathematical & Engineering Sciences

18:10 - 19:00 Drinks reception

The geometrisation of complex manifolds by Professor Dmitri Panov

Every surface possesses its favourite metric: curvature one for a sphere, flat for a torus, and hyperbolic for surfaces of high genus. It is geometers' dream to generalise this fact by finding canonical metrics on other manifolds. The lecture will focus on two such instances: polyhedral Kähler manifolds, i.e. complex manifolds glued from simplices, and spherical surfaces, i.e. surfaces glued from spherical triangles.

Headshot photo of Professor Dmitri Panov

Speaker bio:

Professor Dmitri Panov graduated from Moscow State University in 1998. He received his PhD from Ecole Polytechinque France in 2005, under the supervision of Maxim Kontsevich. From 2005-2010 he was a post-doc researcher at Imperial College London and then in 2010 he joined King’s College London as a Royal Society Research Fellow. He was promoted to Senior Research Fellow in 2012, Reader in 2015 and to Professor of Geometry in 2020.

Dmitri's research area is geometry, mainly complex, symplectic, and hyperbolic. In particular, he studies geometric structures called polyhedral Kahler structures, and as well definite connections.

The geometry of numbers, random functions, and music by Professor Igor Wigman

I’ll be sharing an overview of my research drawing inspiration from three classical subjects within mathematics and revealing a surprising link that unites all of them: Geometry of numbers, Geometry of typical functions and Geometry of music.

We will explore the geometry of numbers and how this field of study offers techniques for solving problems related to counting and understanding sets of numbers that are distinct from each other. We will look at a behaviour of “typical” functions, both in one and higher dimensions. We will also explore how sound moves through space by analysing the spectrum of frequencies music creates, dissecting why instruments like guitars and violins produce distinct tones at the same frequency, to look at the forces underpinning the geometry of music.

Headshot photo of Professor Igor Wigman

Speaker bio:

Professor Igor Wigman did his PhD in Tel-Aviv University in Number Theory under the direction of Professor Zeev Rudnick. After concluding the PhD studies in 2006, he was a postdoctoral fellow in CRM Montreal in 2006-2009 and KTH Stockholm in 2009-2010 until he was appointed as a Lecturer in Pure Mathematics in the Cardiff University, where he was based in 2010-2012.

In September 2012 he joined King's College London as a Lecturer in Number Theory and was promoted to Reader in September 2014 followed by a promotion to Professor in 2018.

Please book your place in-person or online via Eventbrite.

Disclaimer: For in-person events we operate a policy of overbooking, given drop-out rates. Please ensure you arrive in good time to avoid disappointment on the day.

Livestream:

This event will be livestreamed from 17:00 to 18:20 and a recording will be shared on the NMES Faculty YouTube channel.

You will receive the livestream link closer to the event.

Photography and videography: The event you will be attending will have photography and videography. If you do not wish to appear in any recordings or photographs, please approach our registration team on the day of the event or email nmes-events@kcl.ac.uk before the event. Photographs and recordings taken may feature in our publications or on the King’s website and social media channels. All personal data will be processed in accordance with King’s privacy policy available on request or at www.kcl.ac.uk/terms/privacy.

Privacy notice:

We collect and process your personal information to help us manage and run the event. In accordance with the King’s College London Data Retention Schedule, we will keep your information until the completion of the event. To find out more about how the university deals with your personal information, including your rights, please see the university’s core privacy notice. Your personal information will be transferred to the United States via Eventbrite. Please read the article where you can find out more on how Eventbrite protects your data.