30/06/2022

Biggest math conference starts on Tuesday (5)

Cerimônia de abertura do ICM 2018, realizado no Rio de Janeiro. Foto: Bruno de Lima/R2

The spotlight of the mathematical universe is already focused on the world's largest conference in the field. The International Congress of Mathematicians (ICM) 2022 begins next Tuesday (5), and will be held in a hybrid format. The event was to take place in person in St. Petersburg, Russia, but due to the war with Ukraine, it will have few in-person activities, transferred to Helsinki, Finland. The meeting brings together leading figures in mathematics such as Fields Medalists Martin Hairer (Imperial College London) and Peter Scholze (University of Bonn).

Registration for ICM 2022, which runs until July 14, has already closed, but the lectures will be made available on the YouTube channel of the International Mathematical Union (IMU) shortly after the event concludes, according to the organizers.

The satellite events of the Congress begin this Friday (1st), with the holding of the second World Meeting of Women in Mathematics (WM)² , organized by the Committee for Women in Mathematics of the IMU. IMPA researcher and coordinator of the last edition of (WM)², Carolina Araujo will open the event, at 8:45 am Brasília time. The complete (WM)² program is already available and registrations must be made at this link .

One of the highlights of the program is the awarding of the Fields Medals, a distinction equivalent to the Nobel Prize in the field, granted every four years to up to four outstanding mathematicians who are under 40 years old. The announcement of the laureates, one of the most anticipated moments for the mathematical community, will be made on Tuesday (5), at 4 am, in a ceremony at Aalto University , in Helsinki, broadcast on the IMU YouTube channel . To date, IMPA's extraordinary researcher Artur Avila has been the only Latin American to receive the award.

In addition to the Fields Medal ceremony, the winners of the Gauss Prize, the Chern and Abacus medals, the Leelavati Prize, and the Emmy Noether Lecture will also be announced on Tuesday. The day after the ceremony, the public will be able to watch the scientific lectures of the mathematicians recognized by the Fields and Abacus medals on the IMU YouTube channel.

Held in Rio de Janeiro in 2018, the last edition of the ICM brought together more than 3,000 participants from 114 countries. Participants from five continents experienced a nine-day mathematical immersion at the Riocentro convention center. The scientific marathon featured 21 plenary presentations, 910 lectures, 435 short communications, and 475 posters. The event also served as the stage for the awarding of gold medals to the 570 young winners of the Brazilian Mathematics Olympiad for Public Schools (OBMEP).