The distinguished American mathematician prof. Lisa Piccirillo will be this year’s speaker at the conference commemorating prof. Andrzej Jankowski - one of the pioneers of algebraic topology in Poland. For years, this event has attracted outstanding mathematicians from all over the world.
Prof. Andrzej Jankowski was one of the first mathematicians in Poland to take an interest in algebraic topology and devoted his entire academic career to this subject. After completing his PhD at the University of Warsaw, followed by further work at the Institute of Mathematics of the Polish Academy of Sciences and a year-long stay in Moscow, he moved to Gdańsk, where he worked at a branch of the Institute of Mathematics of the Polish Academy of Sciences and lectured at the newly established University of Gdańsk. The works produced between 1971 and 1973 were awarded the S. Zaremba Prize of the Polish Mathematical Society in 1974. His brilliant career was tragically cut short in August 1975. Prof. Andrzej Jankowski did not return from a high-altitude expedition in the Hindu Kush. He died at the age of 36.
To commemorate his achievements and contributions to the development of algebraic topology, the University of Gdańsk has been hosting the Andrzej Jankowski Memorial Lectures since 1999.
This year’s conference will feature a distinguished mathematician - prof. Lisa Piccirillo, who will deliver a lecture entitled ‘Techniques in Exotica’ on 12 June at 4.15 p.m.
The researcher specialises in low-dimensional topology and works at the University of Texas at Austin. She gained international recognition for solving a long-standing problem in knot theory, relating to the ‘sliceness’ of the Conway knot. She was awarded the prestigious Maryam Mirzakhani New Frontiers Prize for her achievements.
In keeping with tradition, each Andrzej Jankowski Lecture is followed by a short weekend conference, during which both established researchers and young scientists just starting their careers can present their findings.
Wide-ranging applications - from physics to data analysis
Algebraic topology studies the properties of spaces and geometric objects using algebraic tools and has wide-ranging applications - from physics to data analysis. It helps describe the structure of spacetime, string theory and the properties of elementary particles. It can be useful in planning robot movements and analysing possible trajectories in a space full of obstacles.
Topological tools help analyse the shapes of objects, surface deformations and spatial models. They are used, amongst other things, in quantum mechanics, but also to study neural connections and brain activity.
Detailed information regarding the Andrzej Jankowski Lecture and conference registration is available at ajml.ug.edu.pl.