Kovalevskaya - The visionary work of a frog that united math | Andreas Malmendier | TEDxUSU
In classical mechanics, there are only a few cases where the precession of a rigid body (such as a top) under the influence of gravity can be described in an explicit form. It was the seminal work of Russian mathematician Sofya Vasilyevna Kovalevskaya in the 1880s that solved one important case. More than a century later, Kovalevskaya's approach is still informative, helping us to describe a newly discovered state of matter. Her work established common features and a unity between different fields of mathematics and physics. In this talk, Andreas explains the significance of Kovalevskaya’s research. Andreas Malmendier is an Associate Professor of Mathematics at Utah State University. Originally from Germany, Andreas has a Ph.D. in Mathematics from MIT and a Diplom (Master’s degree) in Physics from the University of Bonn (Germany). His academic research focuses on string theory and algebraic geometry and reflects his passion for interdisciplinary research. In a nutshell, his work uses mathematics to describe physical phenomena in the world and uses physics to point his mathematical proofs in the right direction. In other words, the physics tells us how things “should” be and the math describes how things “are”. This talk was given at a TEDx event using the TED conference format but independently organized by a local community. Learn more at https://www.ted.com/tedx
In classical mechanics, there are only a few cases where the precession of a rigid body (such as a top) under the influence of gravity can be described in an explicit form. It was the seminal work of Russian mathematician Sofya Vasilyevna Kovalevskaya in the 1880s that solved one important case. More than a century later, Kovalevskaya's approach is still informative, helping us to describe a newly discovered state of matter. Her work established common features and a unity between different fields of mathematics and physics. In this talk, Andreas explains the significance of Kovalevskaya’s research. Andreas Malmendier is an Associate Professor of Mathematics at Utah State University. Originally from Germany, Andreas has a Ph.D. in Mathematics from MIT and a Diplom (Master’s degree) in Physics from the University of Bonn (Germany). His academic research focuses on string theory and algebraic geometry and reflects his passion for interdisciplinary research. In a nutshell, his work uses mathematics to describe physical phenomena in the world and uses physics to point his mathematical proofs in the right direction. In other words, the physics tells us how things “should” be and the math describes how things “are”. This talk was given at a TEDx event using the TED conference format but independently organized by a local community. Learn more at https://www.ted.com/tedx