Deligne To Present Lecture At Institute For Advanced Study

Pierre R. Deligne, professor in the School of Mathematics at the Institute for Advanced Study, will speak on "Some Infinite Sums, First Investigated by Euler, and Still Mysterious" on January 31 at 4:30 p.m. in Wolfensohn Hall on the Institute campus. The lecture, which refers to the work of 18th-century Swiss mathematician and physicist Leonhard Euler, will be followed by a reception.

Deligne received his bachelor's degree in mathematics and doctorate from the University of Brussels. After a year at the Fond National de la Recherche Scientifique in Brussels, he joined the Institut des Hautes Etudes Scientifiques, Bures-sur-Yvette, France, in 1968. In 1984 he became professor at the Institute for Advanced Study.

Deligne, recipient of numerous academic honors, was awarded the prestigious Fields Medal at the International Congress of Mathematicians in Helsinki, Finland, in 1978 for his work in algebraic geometry. His work has provided important insights into the relationship between algebraic geometry and number theory.

Deligne's talk is one of a series of public lectures presented by faculty members of the Institute for Advanced Study throughout the year.