Further information
Inaugural Lectures
Professor Richard Thomas, Department of Mathematics, Imperial College London presents his inaugural lecture “How to become a millionaire – a description of the Hodge conjecture”
In the Chair: Professor Martin Liebeck, Head of Pure Mathematics
Vote of Thanks: Professor Simon Donaldson, Chair in Pure Mathematics
Abstract: Algebraic geometry and topology are two of the most heavily studied fields in mathematics. The former studies the geometry of spaces of solutions of complex polynomial equations. The latter describes their large scale “shape”, number of “holes”, etc. In 1950 Hodge asked which of these “holes” could themselves be described as solutions of polynomial equations. His conjecture is one of the Clay Institute’s Millenium Prize problems, with a paltry million dollars available to anyone who proves it. However, to this day no-one has any clue whether it is true. It is probably the most basic question in the field, but for me it is an opportunity to explain some simple algebraic geometry.
Biography: Professor Richard Thomas did his PhD under Professor Simon Donaldson FRS in Oxford, 1994-97. After 3 years as a postdoc in the Institute for Advanced Study (Princeton), Oxford and Harvard, he became a Royal Society University Research Fellow at Imperial College in 2000. He was made Reader in 2003 and Professor in 2005. He has mainly worked on the algebraic and symplectic geometry of “mirror symmetry”, a phenomenon discovered in string theory in theoretical physics.
A pre-lecture tea will be served in the Senior Common Room, Level 2, Sherfield Building from 16.45.
A drinks reception will follow the lecture, also in the Senior Common Room.