15/05/2020

In a live broadcast, Viana provides a historical overview of dynamical systems.

“One of the most fascinating things about mathematics is its ability to be universal,” said Marcelo Viana, at the beginning of the live broadcast “Mathematics, Astronomy and Pandemic” held by the National Observatory, this Thursday (14). In the broadcast, the director-general of IMPA spoke with Fernando Roig, a researcher at the observatory, about the history of dynamical systems and their applications in epidemiology and astronomy. The debate is part of the “Grandes Encontros” project, a series of live broadcasts promoted by the National Observatory with the aim of popularizing science.

The historical episode of King Oscar II's (1829-1907) birthday – at the time King of Sweden and Norway – which resulted in the emergence of the field of dynamical systems, was the main theme of Viana's presentation. To celebrate his 60th birthday, the monarch decided, possibly at the suggestion of the Swedish mathematician Mittag-Leffler (1846-1927), to award a mathematical prize for an important discovery in the field of higher mathematical analysis. "As far as I know, it's a unique case in history of a ruler celebrating his birthday through a scientific prize," joked the director-general of IMPA.

The French mathematician Henri Poincaré (1854-1912) was the great winner, contributing to the problem of the equations of Isaac Newton's laws of gravitation. "He introduced a completely new point of view, with original methods and ideas," Viana pointed out. "In the following decade, Poincaré dedicated himself to expanding this article, publishing a three-volume treatise called 'New Methods of Celestial Mechanics,' considered the founding work of the field of dynamical systems."

“In a way, we can say that if we are able to model the Covid-19 pandemic today, it is because someone in the 19th century wondered how the planets moved around the sun,” commented Roig. The researcher explained three examples of applications of dynamical systems in astronomy. “One of the great virtues of any dynamical model is its ability to predict things. In particular, the restricted three-body problem allows us to describe many phenomena that occur in the solar system.”

Check out the live stream:

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