2024 Hamilton Lecture: The geometry and algebra of the Mandelbrot set

About the Lecture

The Mandelbrot set, denoted by M, has been studied for 45 years and continues to baffle mathematicians. In this lecture, Professor Laura DeMarco will explore the many mathematical ideas that have been put to work on the Mandelbrot set, from analysis and potential theory to algebra and number theory. The talk will explore how our in-depth knowledge of M has provided insight into recent (and seemingly unrelated) research in geometry, dynamics, and arithmetic.

About the Hamilton Speaker

Laura DeMarco is a Professor of Mathematics at Harvard University and Radcliffe Alumnae Professor at the Radcliffe Institute. Her research is focused on algebraic dynamical systems, with an emphasis on notions of stability and bifurcation. DeMarco was elected to the National Academy of Sciences in 2020; she was awarded the Alexanderson Prize from the American Institute of Mathematics and the Satter Prize from the American Mathematical Society. DeMarco is a Fellow of the American Mathematical Society and serves on the Advisory Board of Quanta Magazine. Prior to her arrival at Harvard in 2020, she was the Noyes Professor of Mathematics at Northwestern University and held positions at the University of Illinois at Chicago and at the University of Chicago.

The Royal Irish Academy Hamilton Lecture is kindly sponsored by Ibec. Our media partner for the Hamilton Lecture is the Irish Times.