15/07/2021

Mathematics and photography: Luis Florit's perfect equation

Crédito: Luis Florit / Arquivo pessoal

Thirty years ago, Luis Adrian Florit, then Argentinian and a recent mathematics graduate from the University of Buenos Aires, arrived in Rio de Janeiro with one goal: "to go to the beach." Brazil wasn't in the young man's plans, but an invitation to the IMPA Summer Course in the Marvelous City changed the mathematician's life. His passion for Rio and the Institute was overwhelming, and Luis never left.

“When I finished university, a colleague invited me to take the IMPA Summer Course, but I just wanted to take a vacation. Besides, I didn't have the money at the time to pay for the trip. When he told me it was in Rio de Janeiro and that the costs would be covered, I agreed immediately,” recalls Luis.

Born in Buenos Aires 55 years ago, Luis completed his doctorate at IMPA in early 1994. Before finishing his degree, the mathematician was invited to continue as an associate researcher with a postdoctoral fellowship. After a postdoctoral fellowship at the University of Pennsylvania in the United States, he finally became a researcher at the institute, where he also teaches. Today he is a full professor at the institution.

Staying in Rio also fueled another of Luis's passions: photography. The city's natural beauty sharpens the mathematician's eye. IMPA (the Institute for Pure and Applied Mathematics) is also a backdrop for the professor's photographs. His photos of Brazilian nature are a reference in the field and can be seen on the researcher's website . “Photography fulfills me in countless different ways. Besides the obvious artistic, playful, and social reasons, it has brought me closer to nature in a way I would hardly have achieved otherwise. And there's also the conservation aspect, which I now consider to be the most important activity anyone can dedicate themselves to: it's essential that people know the richness of the environments around them, from the Amazon to their own backyard. Let's remember: you only preserve what you love, and you only love what you know,” the researcher reflects.

Macho de saíra-ferrugem (Hemithraupis ruficapilla) nos jardins do IMPA / Crédito: Luis Florit

The choice of mathematics as a career came about by chance, during his undergraduate studies in Computer Science. “From a young age, I really liked astronomy, physics, and biology. In adolescence, I discovered computing, especially programming. When I went to university, I didn't know which career to choose, since I liked many things, but I ended up opting for computing,” says the researcher.

Since the first year of the course had several subjects in common with the mathematics degree, Luis felt an interest in the area for the first time. After a year and a half in computer science, he decided to switch permanently to mathematics. In the course, geometry caught the young man's attention and, in addition to the mandatory subjects on the topic, he participated in several elective courses.

During his doctoral studies at IMPA, the mathematician specialized in differential geometry, which studies the properties of smooth, edgeless geometric objects. “Within differential geometry, I went into Riemannian geometry, which is when we introduce a notion of distance and curvature to these objects. For example, just as line segments represent the shortest distance between two points in a plane, in Riemannian geometry we can talk about curves that minimize distances. These curves determine the curvature, while at the same time being determined by it,” he explains.

The now Argentinian-Brazilian comments that he was a rather mediocre student in school, but that this changed completely when he entered university. Besides attending classes on subjects he was very interested in, the political context also influenced his performance. “I went to school during the military dictatorship in Argentina (1976-1983), so it was particularly complicated. Teachers were fired and replaced by others who intended to indulge their own sadism instead of educating. When I was 13, ten boys from a class at my school disappeared for no apparent reason. It could have happened to me. That's why I hated the whole school environment,” recalls Luis.

He began his undergraduate studies in 1985, after the country's democratization period, and says that everything changed: "it was a complete change in every sense – from a political and freedom standpoint, from the point of view of education, the pleasure of doing something I liked, and meeting teachers who finally enjoyed teaching, which practically didn't exist in my school."

Author of dozens of articles produced over the last 30 years, Luis believes that one of his main contributions to mathematics has been the training of new professionals: “In addition to the hundreds of students I have had during the courses I taught at the university and at IMPA, I have supervised several doctoral theses of mathematicians who are now teaching and conducting research at universities. I feel satisfied with what I have achieved in my career and intend to continue in the field.”

Despite his dedication to teaching and research at IMPA, as well as his passion for photography, Luis maintains an interest in computing to this day and has several free programs dedicated to nature conservation available on his website.

“In mathematics, you have a goal that you don't quite know what it is. You simply want to understand a phenomenon, but you don't know how it works. You can work for months without getting any results until you achieve an important step, but that's still not the solution. It takes a lot of patience. Programming, on the other hand, is the opposite. As soon as you start, you already know where you want to go, and you just have to dedicate time and you know you'll finish, progressing continuously. And photography, despite having many techniques, is basically an artistic, internal activity. So I think these activities are complementary,” he concludes.