The geometric study of polyhedra in Euclidean space is one of the oldest subject in mathematics, but one on which progress is still occuring. Jean-Marc Schlenker will present two elementary but recent results:
- one, answering a question asked since 1832, characterises the combinatorial structures of polyhedra that can be inscribed in a quadric;
- the other is a rigidity statement for polyhedra that are convex in a weak senses only.
In both cases the proofs rely on ideas developed for understanding geometric structures on 3-dimensional manifolds, a main focus of contemporary geometry, and in particular hyperbolic and anti-de Sitter structures. Ideas and motivations from mathematical physics play a key role.
About the speaker
Prof. Dr. Jean-Marc Schlenker (born 1968) studied at École Polytechnique, where he defended his PhD in 1994. He was Maître de Conférences at Université Paris-Sud (Orsay) from 1995 to 1999, and spent a year as a visitor at ETH Zürich in 1999-2000. He was then Professor at Université Toulouse III from 2000, and was hired as a Professor at the University of Luxembourg in 2013.
His research interest include the geometry and topology of 3-dimensional manifolds, in particular of hyperbolic and anti-de Sitter spaces, and often include motivations from mathematical physics. He has also made contributions to the geometric understanding of polyhedra and to other areas of mathematics. He has also held high-level administrative responsabilities in France.
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Lecture on Wednesday, 2 December 2015 at 18.00
Kirchberg Campus, Room B02, 6, rue Richard Coudenhove-Kalergi, L-1359 Luxembourg
Introduction by Prof. Dr. Paul Heuschling, Dean of the Faculty of Science, Technology and Communication.
A reception will be taking place after the inaugural lecture.
