09/10/2019

'Mathematics is like a game,' says Sergio Chion Aguirre.

Cecilia Manzoni

With a broad smile and good humor, Sergio Chion Aguirre is a Peruvian who has already absorbed the lightheartedness of Rio de Janeiro. Having lived in Brazil for seven years, the mathematician, originally from Lima, takes walks on Copacabana beach, frequents a board game bar in Cinelândia, cheers for Flamengo, and plans to join a CrossFit gym.

But from Monday to Friday, during business hours, Sergio dedicates himself to researching the geometric object of submanifolds, a subfield of differential geometry. Under the supervision of researcher Marcos Dajczer, he is nearing the end of his postdoctoral studies at IMPA.

The son of an accountant and a production engineer, Sergio was raised in the Miraflores district and believes his interest in mathematics began in childhood, influenced by his parents.

"When I was little, my father introduced me to math textbooks with algebra exercises, which ended up encouraging me to study and gain more ease with the subject," he says.

Later, Sergio chose to study Mathematics at the Pontificia Universidad Católica del Perú (PUCP). The class consisted only of him and four other students, which gave them greater proximity to the professors, who designed a very comprehensive course.

With his degree in hand, the mathematician spent three years working in the field, teaching actuarial calculus at his father's university. With his bags packed for Brazil, he received a job offer after a grueling selection process at a Peruvian bank.

She said no without regrets and began a master's degree in Mathematics at the Federal University of São Carlos (UFSCAR) in 2011. It was her first time in Brazil, and it didn't take long for her to develop an affectionate relationship with the country. "Brazil is a very welcoming country that receives foreigners well. The culture isn't that different from Peru's either, which facilitated my adaptation process."

The biggest difficulty was with the language, which led to some gaffes in the first few months. "Once I went to knock on a professor's door and asked: 'professor, puedo molestarlo?'. I only understood the mistake weeks later, when I saw a poster about harassment at a police station," he says.

Under the guidance of Guillermo Antonio Lobos, it was during his master's degree that Sergio became interested in differential geometry. His dissertation, defended in 2014, dealt with normal holonomy and restricted normal holonomy.

Having grown fond of São Carlos and the university, the mathematician continued his doctoral studies at UFSCAR. “I really liked the lifestyle there, being a university town. Every now and then I spend eight hours on a bus just to visit the city, my colleagues, and catch up,” he reveals.

Sergio's first visit to IMPA was for an unusual reason. To facilitate the presence of researcher Marcos Dajczer on the examining board, the defense of his doctoral thesis, supervised by Professor Ruy Tojeiro (UFSCar), took place at the institute. Sergio took advantage of the situation to express his interest in joining the postdoctoral program there and, within a few weeks, he was already working at IMPA.

“We all know the weight that the IMPA name carries for Mathematics. When I received the invitation, I didn't have much to think about. I just accepted,” he reveals.

For the foreseeable future, the mathematician has a trip planned. He will be conducting research for three months at the University of Murcia in Spain.

“Mathematics is like a game in which you have rules that you must respect in order to reach a conclusion. The cool thing is that, by abstracting information, it is possible to arrive at strong conclusions through these basic rules,” reflects Sergio.