01/02/2024

Holomorphic foliations are the subject of Mateus Figueira's thesis.

A resident of Vila Kennedy, a neighborhood in the west zone of Rio de Janeiro, Mateus Gomes Entringer Figueira , 28, is the first mathematician in his family. Next Monday (5), he takes another step in his career by defending his doctoral thesis “ Extensions and restrictions of holomorphic foliations”. The defense will take place at 3:30 pm, in room 232, and can be followed on YouTube .

Grandson of an accountant and nephew of two teachers, Mateus has always enjoyed mathematics and had the support of his family in choosing an academic career. "Because it's very specific, my family doesn't understand much about my research, but they are proud and enjoy hearing me talk about what I do," he says.

For the young man, his time at FAETEC ( Foundation for Support of Technical Schools) in Santa Cruz, which offered strong education and encouraging teachers, was fundamental in sparking his curiosity about the basics and fundamentals of mathematics.

It was during his undergraduate studies at UFRRJ (Federal Rural University of Rio de Janeiro) that Mateus truly discovered mathematics and fell even more in love with science. His excellent results in subjects related to pure mathematics also sealed his future choices. And the next step was a master's degree at UFMG (Federal University of Minas Gerais).

In 2017, after receiving recommendations about IMPA, Mateus got to know the institute by participating in the Summer Course. "IMPA is unique in Brazil and in the world in mathematical research," said Mateus.

It wasn't long before the young man began his doctoral studies at the institute in 2020. Due to the Covid-19 pandemic, the first two years were completed remotely. From home, Mateus progressed in his studies until he was able to attend IMPA in person during the final stage of his doctorate, with weekly meetings with his advisor, Jorge Vitório Pereira, IMPA's deputy director. "It was a shame not to have been able to take more advantage of the institute's facilities because of Covid," he lamented.

Regarding his research choice, Mateus explains that holomorphic foliations was the area he chose because of his need to see and study mathematics from many different angles. "IMPA contributed with highly qualified professionals who were extremely interested in the subject, which was a significant advantage for my training here at the institute," he pointed out.

In his work, he studies the constraints and extensions of codimension one holomorphic foliations on projective smooth complete intersections to prove an extension criterion for codimension one foliations based on the degree of foliation and the degree of manifold.

“ I take a foliation in a manifold and restrict the submanifold and see what the relationships are between the two foliations… what happens to the properties that are preserved, and I got some results on irreducible components of the foliation space ,” he explained.

During his doctoral studies, Mateus earned a scholarship to study in France, where he spent eight months at the Université de Rennes . For him, it was a period of great learning, meeting new researchers and participating in various seminars.

The young doctor is now seeking postdoctoral positions and will be teaching at a private university.