28/07/2025

'CBM is an example of what IMPA does best,' says Marcelo Viana.

"The Brazilian Mathematics Colloquium (CBM) is an example of what IMPA does best: growing and expanding its scope of action without compromising quality," highlighted IMPA's Director-General, Marcelo Viana, during the opening of the 35th edition of the event. With almost 1500 participants, the 35th CBM started this Monday (28) and will run until Friday (30) at the institute's headquarters, in Jardim Botânico, Rio de Janeiro.

Held since 1957, the meeting brings together researchers, professors, and students from Brazil and around the world – reaffirming the Colloquium's commitment to training, dialogue, and the collective construction of the mathematical community. “Since its inception, the Colloquium has been a gift from IMPA to the Brazilian mathematical community, expressing the institution's commitment to science, education, and the future of mathematics in the country,” said IMPA's deputy director and general coordinator of the event, Jorge Vitório Pereira, as he welcomed the audience that filled IMPA's auditoriums on the first day of the meeting.

Jorge Vitório also recalled his relationship with the CBM, which began during his undergraduate studies when, in 1995, he participated for the first time as a student. “I still remember the feeling of astonishment and enthusiasm when trying to follow lectures on topics that, to me, sounded almost esoteric. The Colloquium was decisive in my development,” the researcher told an audience full of young people.

This year, the Colloquium pays tribute to researcher Jacob Palis, who passed away in May. One of the leading names in Brazilian mathematics and a world reference in Dynamical Systems, Palis was the director-general of IMPA and president of the Brazilian Academy of Sciences (ABC). According to Viana, under the researcher's influence, the Colloquium moved from Poços de Caldas to IMPA in the 1980s, which ensured the expansion of the event's international character.

Gerardo Erazo, a Colombian doctoral student at UFG (Federal University of Goiás), is participating in the CBM for the first time and says he is happy with the opportunity to be at the institute. “IMPA is an international benchmark; I've known the institute since I was in Colombia, and I've always wanted to visit. My expectation is to learn a lot, as there are many high-level researchers.”

Isabelly Martins, an undergraduate student at UERJ (Rio de Janeiro State University), sees the event as an opportunity to explore different areas. “I’m already really enjoying this experience. It’s a chance to see beyond what I see in my undergraduate studies and to learn how issues can present themselves and become more complex,” the student emphasized.

According to Jorge Vitório, this edition "reflects the richness, diversity, and originality of the Brazilian contribution to mathematics." "May this week of lectures, courses, and meetings continue to fulfill the role the event has always had: to educate, inspire, and bring people together," he concluded.

José Seade holds the first plenary session of the 35th CBM. Researcher at the Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México, José Seade, held the first plenary session of the 35th CBM this Monday (28). Specialist in the areas of Topology, Singularity Theory and Dynamical Systems, the mathematician began his presentation by talking about the importance of IMPA in his training.

“An essential part of my development as a mathematician is thanks to IMPA and, particularly, to Jacob Palis and Cidinha [Maria Aparecida Soares Ruas]. When I was a recent graduate, I came here almost every year, invited by Jacob – along with a group of Mexicans and myself. That's when the Dynamical Systems team from Mexico gained a lot of strength. IMPA's contribution was fundamental,” the researcher highlighted.

With the theme “Complex Kleinian groups: geometry and dynamics”, Seade recalled that Kleinian groups are discrete groups of Möbius transformations acting through automorphisms on the Riemann sphere S2 and discussed how to generalize this classic and fundamental concept to higher dimensions.