Ideas that originate in particle physics have an uncanny
tendency to appear in the most diverse mathematical fields. This is
especially true for string theory. Its stimulating influence in
mathematics will have a lasting and rewarding impact...
Deep learning, which is the reemergence of artificial neural
networks, has recently succeeded as an approach towards artificial
intelligence. In many fields, including computational linguistics,
deep learning approaches have largely displaced...
In this public lecture held at the Institute on October 27,
2017, Sanjeev Arora, Visiting
Professor in the School of Mathematics, and Richard Zemel, Visitor in the School
of Mathematics, gave brief talks about the field of machine
learning and its...
Geometry and physics have long
gone hand in hand. All around us, physical processes play out in
geometric terms, such as straight lines (rays of light), ellipses
(planetary motion), or parallelograms (the combined effect of two
forces). To earlier...
Liquid crystals, discovered serendipitously by Friedrich
Reinitzer in the late nineteenth century, have come to play an
important role in the world of consumer electronics, specifically
in the production of ever larger, thinner, and more energy...
Ed Witten, Charles Simonyi Professor in the School of Natural
Sciences, and Helmut Hofer, Professor in the School of Mathematics,
along with Marc Lackenby, Martin R. Bridson, and Rahul
Pandharipande, have co-authored Lectures on Geometry
(Oxford...
On Sunday, October 8, 2017, the Institute hosted a gathering in
remembrance of Vladimir Voevodsky, Professor in the School of
Mathematics. Friends, family, and the Institute community convened
to celebrate his life and legacy.
The Institute for Advanced Study came into being at the most inauspicious of times. Founded in the early years of the Great Depression, it took shape during the buildup to the Second World War and under the growing shadow of authoritarian regimes. Its first Director Abraham Flexner published his manifesto on the “The Usefulness of Useless Knowledge” in October 1939, barely a month after the outbreak of hostilities in Europe. Surely this was a daunting moment to defend “the fearless and irresponsible thinker” and advocate for the free expression of knowledge and curiosity.
In November 1954, Albert
Einstein wrote a letter to a magazine in which he declared
that, were he a young man again, he would not try to become a
scientist: “I would rather choose to be a plumber or a peddler in
the hope to find that modest degree...
To Albert Einstein, she was
“the most significant creative mathematical genius thus far
produced since the higher education of women began.” More
straightforward in his praise, Einstein’s fellow Professor at the
Institute for Advanced Study, Hermann...
