The Springer Math Podcast

Springer Nature Switzerland AG

This is a podcast about mathematics and the people who develop it. The episodes combine recent developments and visions for the future of the field and aim at creating a virtual hub that highlights ideas, people and research topics in mathematics. ISSN 2731-4804

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Episodes

Optimal Transport across Mathematical Boundaries: Nicola Gigli interviewed by Camillo De Lellis
Sep 12 2023
Optimal Transport across Mathematical Boundaries: Nicola Gigli interviewed by Camillo De Lellis
In this episode, Camillo De Lellis, a researcher at the Institute for Advanced Study of Princeton, engages in an interview with Nicola Gigli from the Scuola Internazionale Superiore di Studi Avanzati in Trieste, Italy. They delve into Nicola Gigli's personal journey in and out of mathematics, discussing how he arrived at the topics of his research and his enthusiasm for them. Throughout the conversation, they also explore the intriguing connection between the concepts of optimal transport and curvature of a space, a discovery that has given rise to a flourishing research field at the intersection of multiple areas of mathematics, making it a fascinating and fast-growing frontier of exploration. Nicola Gigli obtained his PhD from the Scuola Normale Superiore in Pisa, specializing in functional and geometric analysis. In recognition of his outstanding achievements in diverse areas of mathematics, he was honored with the Oberwolfach Prize in 2010. Additionally, in 2019, he received the Ennio De Giorgi prize for his remarkable and original contributions to his field of research. Camillo De Lellis earned his PhD in mathematics from the Scuola Normale Superiore in Pisa, Italy. His research focuses on calculus of variations, geometric measure theory, and fluid dynamics. Throughout his career, he has received numerous accolades, with the most recent being the Maryam Mirzakhani Prize awarded in the same year, recognizing his exceptional contributions to the mathematical sciences. Originally presented by the UNITEXT Springer Nature Webinars series, this interview has been specifically adapted for the podcast format.
People and their passions for ICIAM 2023 Tokyo: A dialogue between Ken Hayami and Hisashi Okamoto
Aug 17 2023
People and their passions for ICIAM 2023 Tokyo: A dialogue between Ken Hayami and Hisashi Okamoto
The International Congress on Industrial and Applied Mathematics, or ICIAM, is known as the largest congress in applied mathematics, held only once every four years. The first ICIAM took place in Paris in 1987; and then in Washington, D.C (1991), Hamburg (1995) and Edinburgh (1999). The next venues were Sydney (2003), Zürich (2007), Vancouver (2011), Beijing (2015), and Valencia (2019). ICIAM 2023 Tokyo is the 10th congress. The number of participants for the recent ICIAM congresses exceeded 3,000, and for ICIAM 2023, more than 4,700 participants have registered including online-only participants.Have you ever been to Japan? In this episode, two Japanese mathematicians, Ken Hayami and Hisashi Okamoto, share some interesting background information that may enrich your experience at ICIAM 2023 Tokyo. Ken Hayami, born in 1956, obtained his master’s degree in 1981 from the University of Tokyo and began his career as a researcher at the NEC Corporation. He obtained PhD degrees from the Wessex Institute of Technology (1991) and the University of Tokyo (1993), respectively. In 1993, he joined the faculty of the University of Tokyo and later he moved to NII/Sokendai, where he is now professor emeritus. Ken Hayami has been the president of the Japan SIAM since June 2023.Hisashi Okamoto, born in 1956, obtained his PhD from the University of Tokyo in 1985, supervised by Hiroshi Fujita. He previously held positions at the University of Tokyo and the Research Institute of Mathematics (Kyoto University), and is now at Gakushuin University in Tokyo. He was an invited speaker at the 1998 International Congress of Mathematicians in Berlin.  Hisashi Okamoto has been the editor-in-chief of the Japan Journal of Industrial and Applied Mathematics since 2016.
A Life in Mathematical Publishing: Catriona Byrne interviewed by Bernard Teissier
Jan 11 2023
A Life in Mathematical Publishing: Catriona Byrne interviewed by Bernard Teissier
In this month's podcast, our guest is Catriona Byrne.Catriona Byrne has French and Scottish origins. She obtained her PhD from the University of Edinburgh in 1982 and worked for Springer as a Publishing Editor and later as Director for Mathematics until 2022, working with international teams of editors. In that time she held responsibility for many book series, including the flagship Grundlehren and Ergebnisse, and the Lecture Notes in Mathematics, as well as many journals including Inventiones Mathematicae, Mathematische Annalen, Mathematische Zeitschrift, and Probability Theory and Related Fields. Among other innovations, she initiated the digitisation of the Lecture Notes in Mathematics series, and she launched and developed Springer’s successful programme of books and three journals in mathematical finance from 1998.She will be hosted by Bernard Teissier.Bernard Teissier, born 1945, is a French mathematician who has made major contributions to algebraic geometry and commutative algebra, specifically to singularity theory, multiplicity theory and valuation theory. His PhD from the University of Paris VII Denis-Diderot in 1973 was supervised by Heisuke Hironaka. He was a member of Nicolas Bourbaki. He has been a CNRS researcher at the École Polytechnique, the École Normale Supérieure and at Paris Universities. He was an Invited Speaker at the 1983 International Congress of Mathematicians in Warsaw.  Bernard Teissier has been one of the Editors of Springer’s Lecture Notes in Mathematics series since 1995.
Dialogues between Mathematics and Physics: Yang-Hui He interviewed by Daniel Wang
Aug 2 2022
Dialogues between Mathematics and Physics: Yang-Hui He interviewed by Daniel Wang
In this month’s podcast, our guest is Yang-Hui He, a Fellow of the London Institute for Mathematical Sciences, which is based at the Royal Institution of Great Britain, professor of mathematics at City University of London, Chang-Jiang Chair professor at Nankai University in Tianjin, as well as Lecturer at Merton College, University of Oxford.In this episode, we've invited him to talk about the interactions between mathematics and physics, how the international education and research experience influence a scientist, and the activities carried out at Chern Institute and Nankai University.Yang-Hui He studied at Princeton University, where he received his Bachelor of Arts in Physics, with a Certificate in Applied Mathematics and a Certificate in Engineering Summa cum Laude (Highest Honours, Phi-Beta-Kappa). He then obtained a Certificate in Advanced Mathematics (Tripos) at Cambridge University, with Distinction. He went on to receive his PhD in theoretical and mathematical physics from MIT and continued at the University of Pennsylvania before joining Oxford University as a FitzJames Fellow in Mathematics and then UK STFC Advanced Fellow in theoretical physics. Prof. He is a mathematical physicist working on various interfaces between geometry and theoretical high energy physics. He is particularly interested in aspects of algebraic geometry in application to, and interacting with, gauge theory as well as string theory, such as Calabi-Yau manifolds, holographic correspondences and string phenomenology. He also has interests in the dialogue between number theory, graph representation theory and gauge theories. Yang-Hui He is author of over 200 scientific publications and also a keen communicator of science. With Springer, he published in 2021 The Calabi-Yau Landscape. From Geometry to Physics, to Machine Learning as volume 2293 of Lecture Notes in Mathematics. In late 2022, the Proceedings of the Nankai Symposium on Mathematical Dialogues will appear, a symposium which celebrated the 110th birthday of S.-S. Chern.
Mathematics Unbound: The Life and Legacy of John Horton Conway
Feb 7 2022
Mathematics Unbound: The Life and Legacy of John Horton Conway
John Horton Conway was one of the most important researchers in the history of mathematics. His genius and boundless curiosity enabled him to make significant  contributions in many diverse areas throughout his lifetime, including number theory, topology, algebra, knot theory, coding theory, and probability. But John Conway was far more than simply a scientific researcher. Through his games, imagination, sense of humor, and willingness to share all that he knew with anyone who would listen, his influence on mathematicians and mathematical enthusiasts alike will no doubt be felt for generations to come. We have four guests for this episode, hosted by Marc Strauss, Publishing Director in Mathematics:Siobhan Roberts is a Canadian science journalist who contributes regularly to the New York Times. She is the author of Genius at Play, The Curious Mind of John Horton Conway. She also wrote a biography of the classical geometer Donald Coxeter, titled King of Infinite Space.Marjorie Senechal is the Louise Wolf Kahn Professor Emerita in Mathematics and History of Science and Technology at Smith College where, in addition to teaching math and history of science, she was the founding director of the Kahn Institute for pan-disciplinary research. Her own research focusses on tilings and crystallography. She is the former editor-in-chief of The Mathematical Intelligencer.Colin Adams is the Thomas T. Read Professor of Mathematics at Williams College. He is the author of numerous mathematics research articles on knot theory and low-dimensional topology, humor columnist for The Mathematical Intelligencer, and author or co-author of ten books, including The Knot Book, Zombies & Calculus and Riot at the Calc Exam and Other Mathematically Bent Stories.Barry Cipra is a freelance mathematics writer based in Northfield, Minnesota. He has been a contributing correspondent for Science magazine and a regular writer for SIAM News. He wrote the first five volumes of What’s Happening in the Mathematical Sciences, and is the author of Misteaks... and How to Find Them Before the Teacher Does: A Calculus Supplement. He received a Ph.D. in mathematics from the University of Maryland, College Park.John Conway's book publications with Springer include Sphere Packings, Lattices and Groups and The Book of Numbers.
Mathematics and Cancer Therapy: Trachette Jackson interviewed by Lynn Brandon
Sep 19 2021
Mathematics and Cancer Therapy: Trachette Jackson interviewed by Lynn Brandon
Trachette L. Jackson earned her Ph.D. in Applied Mathematics from the University of Washington under the direction of Professor James D. Murray, one of the founding leaders in the field of Mathematical Biology.   Ten years later, after postdoctoral positions at the IMA and Duke University, she was promoted to Full Professor of Mathematics at the University of Michigan.  Dr. Jackson is an award-winning teacher-scholar whose research in mathematical oncology has received international attention.  In 2003, she became the second African American woman to receive the prestigious Alfred P. Sloan Research Award in Mathematics.  In 2005, Dr. Jackson received the James S. McDonnell 21st Century Scientist Award, and in 2008 Diverse Magazine honored her as one of the year’s Emerging Scholars.  In 2010 she became the first woman to receive the Blackwell-Tapia Prize, which recognizes a mathematician who has contributed significantly to research and has served as a role model for mathematical scientists and students from underrepresented minority groups.  More recently, Dr. Jackson was voted into the inaugural class of Association for Women in Mathematics (AWM) Fellows, the 2021 class of the Society of Industrial and Applied Mathematics (SIAM) Fellows, and the inaugural class of Simon’s Foundation Fellows, an honor featured in the NY Times. Dr. Jackson’s research lies within the overarching field of mathematical biology, which can be characterized by the use of sophisticated mathematical, statistical, and computational modeling techniques to facilitate a deep understanding of biology for human benefit and the mitigation of human harm. Within Mathematical Biology, she specializes in Computational Cancer Research or Mathematical Oncology.  Mathematical and computational modeling approaches have been applied to every aspect of tumor growth from mutation acquisition and tumorigenesis to metastasis and treatment response.  Dr. Jackson’s research focuses on developing mathematical methods to address critical questions associated with tumor progression and targeted therapeutics. Dr. Jackson has built her career on collaborative research and educational activities that cut across traditional disciplinary boundaries. She envisions that this type of research will eventually change the face of cancer research.Lynn Brandon is Executive Editor for Mathematics, based in London, celebrating two decades with Springer in 2022. She manages a small team of editors and several journals, mostly in applied and computational mathematics. Related Books and Journals and Springer homepage of the podcast: https://www.springer.com/gp/campaign/mathematics-podcasts