Inspiring the best math talent to reach greater heights in Paris
(Nov. 2024) How can you stimulate young mathematicians who have already achieved some the highest honors they can earn at their age? One possibility: a seminar in Paris with Fields Medalists, an event small enough for participants to freely chat, ask questions, and bounce off ideas with some the world’s top mathematical minds.
Watch the video produced during the math Masterclass.
In September 2024, Huawei convened the first China-France Mathematics Workshop and 2024 Lagrange Mastersclass at Huawei’s Lagrange Mathematics and Computing Research Center in Paris. About 40 young mathematicians took part, mostly past winners of prestigious national and international math competitions. The students hailed from top international schools including Peking University, Shanghai’s Fudan University, Harvard University, and the University of Oslo.
The bright young mathematicians learned with the best in Paris. The Fields Medal is the highest honor a mathematician can earn, math’s equivalent of a Nobel Prize. It is awarded every four years to two, three, or four mathematicians under the age of 40. The Paris Masterclass featured two Fields Medalists: Laurent Lafforgue and Alessio Figalli. In addition, Eric Moulines, Academician of the French Academy of Sciences also taught the participating students.
Lafforgue with students
“It is always difficult to learn a new subject alone,” says Lafforgue, who works at the Lagrange Center and is one of Huawei’s top mathematical researchers. “Face to face human exchanges cannot be replaced. It is especially important when figuring out the hierarchy of a domain: what is important, what is less important, how a domain is structured, what are the main lines of thought.”
Huang Jingyang, a student at the School of Mathematical Sciences of Peking University was impressed by her experience in Paris. “I loved his ideas (Lafforgue) about mind pictures and mathematical countries based on the theory of Grothendiek topology,” she says. “He explained that math isn’t just a bunch of unrelated concepts, it’s more like a country with cities connected by roads.”
Figalli holding a seminar in Paris during the Masterclass
The program was organized by the Competition Management Department of Huawei’s Institute of Strategic Research. It builds on the deep relationships Huawei has already cultivated over the years with top universities in China and internationally.
“We are rapidly entering an era of all intelligence,” notes Zhou Hong, President of the Huawei Institute of Strategic Research. “And the development of advanced intelligence depends on breakthroughs in mathematics which is the cornerstone of the future world. We hope more and more young talent can seize the opportunity of this era to transcend the limits of human beings, and to be the masters of the universe.”
Participants in the courtyard of the Lagrange Center
