The European Heritage Days at IHES were a great success

the occasion of the European Heritage Days IHES opened its doors on Saturday, September 17th. Almost 300 people explored the venue, our Bois-Marie, met some of the exceptional researchers that work at the Institute, visited an exhibition created for the occasion, and discovered some unpublished historical archives.

Laurent Lafforgue, mathematician, permanent professor since 2000 and Fields medallist in 2002, gave a talk on “The creativity in mathematics according to Grothendieck” and clarified the great mathematician’s take on the concept, stressing the importance it had for him.

Emmanuel Ullmo, the IHES Director, led the visitors through the different places where some of the most brilliant mathematicians of the last seventy years have discussed, devised and exchanged their ideas. The visit of the various places where the science happens at IHES was followed by an interactive presentation of the “Skolem, choc de blocs & chiffres au vent” sculpture, during which visitors could channel their inner mathematician.

The day ended with a roundtable discussion with Pierre Cartier and Alain Connes, Léon Motchane professor since 1979 and Field medallist in 1982, and moderated by Anne-Sandrine Paumier and Emmanuel Ullmo, whose theme was “Stories and interactions at IHES”.

The visitors then had the chance to explore the exhibition on the “IHES Scientific Heritage”, that summarised the history of IHES, starting from its early years and that included the presentation of unpublished historical archives.

 

The unpublished documents that were presented at the exhibition, as well as a selection of the historical archived documents of IHES, were digitised with the support of Diagonale Paris-Saclay.