25/08/2023

OBMEP medalist defends doctoral thesis at IMPA.

With a family dedicated to apple harvesting, Eduardo Alves da Silva, 30, categorically states that the OBMEP (Brazilian Mathematical Olympiad for Public Schools) transformed his life. A former public school student in the city of Vacaria (RS), and three-time medalist in the Olympiad, the IMPA (Institute for Pure and Applied Mathematics) doctoral candidate attributes his decision to pursue a degree in mathematics and, later, dedicate himself to research in the field to the scientific competition.

A graduate of UFRGS (Federal University of Rio Grande do Sul), Eduardo, who holds a silver medal, two bronze medals, and an honorable mention in the OBMEP (Brazilian Mathematical Olympiad for Public Schools), recounts how his participation in the PIC (Junior Scientific Initiation Program) and PICME (Scientific Initiation and Master's Program) helped in his academic career.

“I believe I am here at IMPA because of OBMEP. I come from a very humble family, and the Olympiad gave me a broader worldview. It showed me that I could achieve many things through studying. As I dedicated myself and participated in the PIC program, I discovered that I really enjoyed mathematics and that I had a lot to learn. I also had the opportunity to participate in PICME, which allowed me to further my education.”

This Monday (28), the student defends the doctoral thesis “ Calabi-Yau log geometry and Cremona maps”. The presentation takes place in room 232 at 11 am and can be followed via IMPA's YouTube channel .

Guided by institute researcher Carolina Araujo, the work explores the interactions between log Calabi-Yau geometry and Cremona maps. In a two-dimensional context, Eduardo investigated the decomposition group of a non-singular planar cubic in light of log Calabi-Yau geometry and proved that an appropriate algorithm from the Sarkisov Program applied to an element of this group is automatically volume-preserving, among other results.

"There are many points that I would still like to continue investigating. Perhaps I could try to answer some unanswered questions in the field," Eduardo said about his area of research.

In October, the doctoral candidate will travel to France for a three-year postdoctoral fellowship at the University of Paris-Saclay.

Trajectory of effort

It was in 2012 that Eduardo left the city of Vacaria for Porto Alegre (RS) to begin his undergraduate studies in Mathematics at UFRGS. To support himself in the city during his first semester of college, he had to work as a doorman, enduring long working hours with only one weekend off per month. Only after the first semester did he manage to secure a place at the UFRGS Student Residence, where he was also selected to work on some projects as a scholarship recipient.

Six years later, Eduardo moved to Rio de Janeiro to begin his doctoral studies in pure mathematics at IMPA. This decision was once again marked by several challenges.

“At times, even earning more than my father, who received minimum wage, I needed his help to stay here. Rio has a very high cost of living, but I never thought about giving up. I knew my effort would be rewarded. Now, I have a golden opportunity [the post-doctoral program]. If it weren't for OBMEP, perhaps I would have stayed in Vacaria, picking apples – a very important activity, but they showed me that I could go further,” concluded Eduardo.

Eduardo Alves no Festival Nacional da Matemática (2022)