The fourth edition of the Severo Ochoa Distinguished Visiting Professors and Laboratories programme is launched.

• Among them are two Fields Medals, a Shaw Prize winner, the 2006 Prince of Asturias for Technical and Scientific Research award winner and the director of the Clay Institute of Mathematics.
• They will work until 2028 with ICMAT groups in very active areas of current research such as quantum computation, fluid mechanics, dynamical systems or geometric integration and neural network analysis.
• ‘The activities generated by each of these groups will serve to attract a large number of visitors to the institute, increase the scientific cohesion of our research groups and reinforce the ICMAT’s position as an indisputable point of reference within the international mathematical community’, says Javier Aramayona, director of the ICMAT.

The 2024-2028 Severo Ochoa Distinguished Visiting Professors and Laboratories programme will be led by (from left to right and from top to bottom of the image):

• Bruno Anglès (Université de Caen Normandie, France).
• Martin Bridson (University of Oxford, United Kingdom); Director of the Clay Mathematics Institute (USA)
• Elena Celledoni (Norges teknisk-naturvitenskapelige universitet / Norwegian University of Science and Technology, Norway)
• Ignacio Cirac (Max-Planck-Institut für Quantenoptik / Max Planck Institute for Quantum Optics, Germany), Prince of Asturias Award for Technical and Scientific Research 2006
• Charles Fefferman (Princeton University, USA), Fields Medal (1978)
• Nigel Hitchin (University of Oxford, UK), Shaw Prize (2016)
• Monika Ludwig (Technische Universität Wien / Vienna University of Technology, Austria)
• Eugenia Malinnikova (Stanford University, USA)
• Mikael de la Salle (École Normale Supérieure de Lyon, France)
• Eva Miranda (Universitat Politècnica de Catalunya, Spain)
• Ngô Bảo Châu (University of Chicago, USA), Fields Medal (2010)
• Gilles Pisier (Texas A&M University, USA; Université Pierre et Marie Curie, France)
• Alan Reid (Rice University, USA)
• Eero Saksman (Helsingin yliopisto / University of Helsinki, Finland)

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14 internationally renowned researchers are joining the Institute of Mathematical Sciences (ICMAT) as part of the fourth edition of its Severo Ochoa Distinguished Visiting Professors and Laboratories programme. These research groups are led by two Fields Medalists, one of the most distinguished prizes in mathematics: Charles Fefferman (Princeton University, USA) and Ngô Bảo Châu (University of Chicago, USA). They are joined by Nigel Hitchin (University of Oxford, UK), winner of the 2016 Shaw Prize in Mathematical Sciences; Martin Bridson (University of Oxford), Director of the Clay Institute for Mathematics (USA); Ignacio Cirac, Director of the Max Planck Institute for Quantum Optics (Germany) and winner of the Prince of Asturias Award for Technical and Scientific Research in 2006; and Eugenia Malinnikova (Stanford University, USA), winner of the 2017 Clay Research Prize, among others.

This programme has become one of the ICMAT’s main actions developed thanks to the funding received with the Severo Ochoa Centre of Excellence accreditation, renewed this year for the fourth consecutive time. ‘After three editions, the programme has proved to be a resounding success. The impact is evident, both in the quality and quantity of scientific output and in the establishment of strong links with renowned institutions. We have achieved significant advances in the understanding of fundamental problems,’ says Diego Córdoba, scientific director of the Severo Ochoa programme. In fact, three of the laboratories – Ignacio Cirac, Charles Fefferman and Nigel Hitchin – Ngô Bảo Châu – are a continuation of the previous edition.

The research areas in which these groups will work over the next four years are among the most active in mathematics today. Broadly speaking, these are: arithmetic geometry and algebraic number theory; geometric integration and neural network analysis; differential geometry and dynamical systems; metric geometry; complex analysis, harmonic analysis and potential theory; quantum information and computation; fluid mechanics; geometric group theory, hyperbolic geometry and low-dimensional topology.

‘The activities generated by each of these groups will serve to attract a large number of visitors to the institute, increase the scientific cohesion of our research groups and reinforce the ICMAT’s position as an indisputable point of reference within the international mathematical community’, says Javier Aramayona, director of the ICMAT. The initiative has associated funding for scientific activities, for the development of thematic programmes and for contracts for predoctoral and postdoctoral research staff, offering high-quality training in our country.

Severo Ochoa Distinguished Visiting Professors and Laboratories 2024-2028

Distinguished Visiting Professor: Bruno Anglès

Bruno Anglès, Professor at the Université de Caen Normandie (France), is an expert in number theory and special functions. His work focuses on L-functions and the relations between number theory and Galois theory. He has been recognised for his contributions at the intersection of arithmetic and algebraic geometry.

As a Distinguished Visiting Professor (PVD), Anglès works, together with his collaborators at the ICMAT, in the areas of arithmetic geometry and algebraic number theory. More specifically, in the arithmetic of global bodies of functions, bodies of rational functions on algebraic curves defined on finite bodies.

Coordinator: Daniel Macías, CSIC researcher at the ICMAT.

Martin Bridson – Alan Reid Laboratory

Alan Reid, currently a professor at Rice University (USA), works in geometric group theory, hyperbolic geometry and the topology of varieties in three dimensions, areas in which he has achieved highly influential results.

Martin Bridson, professor at University of Oxford (UK), is also director of the Clay Institute of Mathematics, an institution dedicated to the funding and promotion of mathematics – among its programmes is the list of Millennium Problems, whose resolutions are rewarded with a million dollars. His fields of specialisation are low-dimensional topology, geometric group theory and spaces of non-positive curvature. Among other distinctions, he has received the LMS Whitehead Prize (1999), the Wolfson Prize for Merit in Research from the Royal Society (2012), and the Steele Prize from the American Mathematical Society (2020).

The Bridson-Reid Laboratory works in the area of geometric group theory, where groups are studied from a geometric perspective, using tools and concepts from geometry and topology to understand the structure and properties of groups.

Coordinator: Andrei Jaikin, professor at the Universidad Autónoma de Madrid and member of the ICMAT.

Distinguished Visiting Professor: Elena Celledoni

Elena Celledoni is a professor at Norges teknisk-naturvitenskapelige Universitet (Norwegian University of Science and Technology). Her main field of research is computational mathematics, with a focus on numerical methods for differential problems and geometric integration. Celledoni has worked extensively on techniques for accurate and efficient numerical simulation, particularly in mechanics and physics.

Celledoni joins ICMAT as a PVD. The collaboration will focus on the areas of geometric integration and neural network analysis using differential geometry methods. The main objective is to obtain important results in geometric methods, both for continuous and discrete dynamical systems.

Coordinator: David Martín de Diego, CSIC research scientist at the ICMAT.

Ignacio Cirac Laboratory

Ignacio Cirac is director of the Max Planck Institute for Quantum Optics (Germany). A pioneer in the field of quantum information and quantum computing, his proposal of the first schemes for quantum computing based on ion traps has received international recognition. He has received numerous awards, including the Prince of Asturias Award for Technical and Scientific Research in 2006, the BBVA Frontiers of Knowledge Award (2008), the Benjamin Franklin Medal (2010), the Wolf Prize in Physics (2013) and the Max-Planck Medal (2018).

The Ignacio Cirac Laboratory, as a continuation of the previous one, will continue to focus on the development and implementation of quantum technologies, one of the main technological challenges of today. In addition, the group hopes to initiate new lines of work, such as, for example, connecting the theory of tensor networks with areas and techniques of computer science.

Coordinator: David Pérez García, professor at the Complutense University of Madrid and member of the ICMAT.

Charles Fefferman Laboratory

Charles Fefferman, professor at Princeton University, Princeton University (USA), was awarded the Fields Medal in 1978 for his work on problems of analysis in several complex variables and partial differential equations. His research has had a major impact in many other fields: Fourier analysis, mathematical physics, fluid dynamics, neural networks and differential geometry.

The Charles Fefferman Laboratory is once again focused on solving problems in fluid mechanics, and in particular the well-known Navier-Stokes problem, one of the most important problems in mathematics and physics, which has remained open for more than 250 years. It consists of the possible formation of singularities in the solutions to the set of non-linear partial differential equations – the Navier-Stokes equations – that describe the motion of fluids.

Coordinator: Diego Córdoba, CSIC research professor at the ICMAT.

Ngô Bảo Châu and Nigel Hitchin Laboratory

Ngô Bảo Châu, currently a professor at the University of Chicago (USA), is an expert in number theory and algebraic geometry. He is known for his proof of the Fundamental Lemma in the Langlands programme, which earned him the Fields Medal in 2010. He has also been awarded the Clay Research Prize (2004), the Sophie Germain Prize (2007), the Oberwolfach Prize (2007) and the Légion d’honneur (2011).

Nigel Hitchin is Emeritus Professor at the University of Oxford (UK). Hitchin is recognised for his contributions to differential geometry and gauge theory, including the development of the Hitchin equations and their applications to surface geometry and string theory. He was awarded the Shaw Prize in 2016 for his work in geometry and topology. He has also received the Whitehead Prize (1980), the Berwick Prize (1990) and the Polya Prize (2002), as well as the Sylvester Medal of the Royal Society (2000).

The Nigel Hitchin – Ngô Bảu Châu Laboratory will continue to focus on various areas of algebraic geometry and mathematical physics: Hitchin system, Langlands duality, mirror symmetry, Higgs bundles, character varieties and higher Teichmüller spaces, gauge theories, moduli spaces and geometric structures.

Coordinator: Oscar García-Prada, CSIC research professor at the ICMAT.

Distinguished Visiting Professor: Monika Ludwig

Monika Ludwig is a professor at the Technische Universität Wien (Vienna, Austria). Her field of specialisation is geometric measure theory and convexity theory. Ludwig has made significant contributions to convex body theory, including research on valuation functions and shadow bodies. She has been a visiting professor at several renowned universities in Europe and North America.

Ludwig’s joining this programme as a PVD will be instrumental in advancing the geometric theory of valuations, both in the Brunn-Minkowski context and in its dual. This theory is encompassed in metric geometry, an area that lies at the intersection of geometry, analysis and convexity.

Coordinator: Pedro Tradacete, CSIC scientist at the ICMAT.

Distinguished Visiting Professors: Eugenia Malinnikova and Eero Saksman

Eugenia Malinnikova is a professor at Stanford University (USA). Her research focuses on harmonic analysis, partial differential equations and spectral theory. She has received several awards, including the 2017 Clay Research Fellowship Award for her work in spectral theory and harmonic analysis.

Eero Saksman is a professor at the Helsingin yliopisto (University of Helsinki, Finland). His research covers areas such as stochastic analysis, martingale theory and spectral theory, geometric function theory and operator and probability theory.

Coordinator: Eva Gallardo, professor at the Complutense University of Madrid and member of the ICMAT.

As PVD, Malinnikova and Saksman will work at the ICMAT in the fields of complex and harmonic analysis and potential theory.

Distinguished Visiting Professor: Eva Miranda

Eva Miranda is a professor at the Universitat Politècnica de Catalunya (UPC). Her research focuses on geometry and topology, particularly in dynamical systems and symplectic geometry. Miranda has been a pioneer in the study of singularities in integrable systems and is recognised for her contributions to the topology of foliations and Poisson geometry.

Miranda’s collaboration as a PVD at the ICMAT is focused on the study of the level of complexity of the n-body problem in celestial mechanics. The specific objective is to find out whether it has a certain computational property: is it Turing complete, i.e. can it simulate any computational algorithm?

Coordinator: Daniel Peralta Salas, CSIC research scientist at the ICMAT.

Gilles Pisier and Mikael de la Salle Laboratory

Gilles Pisier is Professor Emeritus at Texas A&M University (USA) and the Sorbonne-Institut de Jussieu University (France). His work in functional analysis, probability and operator algebras has earned him numerous honours and awards, including the prestigious Salem Prize in 1979 and the Ostrowski Prize in 1997. His research has influenced many areas of harmonic analysis, von Neumann algebras and the geometry of Banach spaces.

Mikael de la Salle is a professor at the Université de Lyon (France). His research interests include geometric group theory, geometry of Banach spaces and operator algebras. He has made decisive contributions on semisimple lattices of high rank and their associated von Neumann algebras, which have earned him several prizes, including the Société Mathématique de France prize.

The Pisier-de la Salle Laboratory will focus on the study of non-commutative Lp spaces from harmonic analysis, which also requires interaction with other fields, such as operator algebra and operator spaces, geometric group theory and quantum probability.

Coordinator: Javier Parcet, CSIC research scientist at the ICMAT.

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