Tuesday, April 12, 2011

The School of Natural Sciences & Mathematics is proud to host Stanislav Smirnov, PhD, Professor at the Université de Genève and Saint-Petersburg State University, as well as recipient of the prestigious 2010 Fields Medal.*

“What is a random walk?” Abstract:

Almost two centuries ago a famous Scottish botanist Robert Brown observed through his microscope chaotic movement of small particles inside pollen grains. Despite extensive studies of the "Brownian motion," it took 80 years and Albert Einstein to explain this phenomenon, giving the first experimental evidence for the molecular structure of matter. A century has passed, but the mathematics behind "random walks" remains a fascinating subject, appearing almost everywhere: from protein folding and forest fires to stock prices and the Internet search engines.

*International Medal for Outstanding Discoveries in Mathematics, awarded to extraordinary mathematicians under 40, and considered the Nobel Prize equivalent.

For more information visit the Anson L. Clark Memorial Lecture Series webpage.