14th Felix Hausdorff Lecture by Professor Dr. Jürgen Jost (Max Planck Institute for Mathematics in the Sciences, Leipzig)
Curvature is an old geometric concept whose meaning has changed many times over the course of time. It was initially used to quantify the deviation of a curve from a straight line or a surface in space from a plane. Through Gauss and Riemann, curvature then became an internal measure of abstract geometric spaces. This became fundamental for the general theory of relativity and quantum field theory. In more recent geometric research, curvature concepts are also introduced for general metric spaces. The notion of curvature introduced by us in this context can also be used in machine learning to investigate discrete metric data sets, thus opening up new perspectives for mathematical research.
After studying mathematics, physics, economics and philosophy and obtaining his doctorate in 1980, Jürgen Jost was Professor of Mathematics at the Ruhr University Bochum from 1984-1996. In 1996, he became the founding director of the Max Planck Institute for Mathematics in the Sciences in Leipzig. He is a member of the Leopoldina, the Academy of Science and Literature in Mainz and the Saxon Academy of Sciences. In 1993 he received the Leibniz Prize of the DFG.
Moderation: Professor Dr. Ines Kath
