French mathematical seminars
Encyclopedia
French mathematical seminars have been an important type of institution combining research and exposition, active since the middle of the twentieth century. The Séminaire Nicolas Bourbaki
is the most famous, but is atypical in a number of ways: it attempts to cover, if selectively, the whole of pure mathematics
, and its talks are now, by convention, reports and surveys on research by someone not directly involved. More standard is a working group organised around a specialist area, with research talks given and written up 'from the horse's mouth'.
Historically speaking, the Séminaire Cartan of the late 1940s and early 1950s, around Henri Cartan
, was one of the most influential. Publication in those days was by means of the duplicated exemplaire (limited distribution and not peer-reviewed). The seminar model was tested, almost to destruction, by the SGA series of Alexander Grothendieck
.
Séminaire Nicolas Bourbaki
The Séminaire Nicolas Bourbaki is a series of seminars that has been held in Paris since 1948. It is one of the major institutions of contemporary mathematics, and a barometer of mathematical achievement, fashion, and reputation...
is the most famous, but is atypical in a number of ways: it attempts to cover, if selectively, the whole of pure mathematics
Pure mathematics
Broadly speaking, pure mathematics is mathematics which studies entirely abstract concepts. From the eighteenth century onwards, this was a recognized category of mathematical activity, sometimes characterized as speculative mathematics, and at variance with the trend towards meeting the needs of...
, and its talks are now, by convention, reports and surveys on research by someone not directly involved. More standard is a working group organised around a specialist area, with research talks given and written up 'from the horse's mouth'.
Historically speaking, the Séminaire Cartan of the late 1940s and early 1950s, around Henri Cartan
Henri Cartan
Henri Paul Cartan was a French mathematician with substantial contributions in algebraic topology. He was the son of the French mathematician Élie Cartan.-Life:...
, was one of the most influential. Publication in those days was by means of the duplicated exemplaire (limited distribution and not peer-reviewed). The seminar model was tested, almost to destruction, by the SGA series of Alexander Grothendieck
Alexander Grothendieck
Alexander Grothendieck is a mathematician and the central figure behind the creation of the modern theory of algebraic geometry. His research program vastly extended the scope of the field, incorporating major elements of commutative algebra, homological algebra, sheaf theory, and category theory...
.
Notable seminars
- Séminaire Bourbaki, still current, general; Nicolas BourbakiNicolas BourbakiNicolas Bourbaki is the collective pseudonym under which a group of 20th-century mathematicians wrote a series of books presenting an exposition of modern advanced mathematics, beginning in 1935. With the goal of founding all of mathematics on set theory, the group strove for rigour and generality...
- Séminaire Brelot-Choquet-Deny (from 1957), potential theoryPotential theoryIn mathematics and mathematical physics, potential theory may be defined as the study of harmonic functions.- Definition and comments :The term "potential theory" was coined in 19th-century physics, when it was realized that the fundamental forces of nature could be modeled using potentials which...
; Marcel Brelot, Gustave ChoquetGustave ChoquetGustave Choquet was a French mathematician.Choquet was born in Solesmes, Nord. His contributions include work in functional analysis, potential theory, topology and measure theory...
, Jacques DenyJacques DenyJacques Deny is a French mathematician. He made notable contributions to the field of analysis, in particular potential theory.-External links:... - Séminaire Cartan, homological algebraHomological algebraHomological algebra is the branch of mathematics which studies homology in a general algebraic setting. It is a relatively young discipline, whose origins can be traced to investigations in combinatorial topology and abstract algebra at the end of the 19th century, chiefly by Henri Poincaré and...
, sheaf theory, several complex variablesSeveral complex variablesThe theory of functions of several complex variables is the branch of mathematics dealing with functionson the space Cn of n-tuples of complex numbers...
; Henri CartanHenri CartanHenri Paul Cartan was a French mathematician with substantial contributions in algebraic topology. He was the son of the French mathematician Élie Cartan.-Life:...
and his students - Séminaire Châtelet-Dubreil, Dubreil, Dubreil-Pisot, from 1951http://www.iecn.u-nancy.fr/~eguether/bibliotheque/DUBREIL.pdf, abstract algebraAbstract algebraAbstract algebra is the subject area of mathematics that studies algebraic structures, such as groups, rings, fields, modules, vector spaces, and algebras...
- Séminaire Chevalley, algebraic geometryAlgebraic geometryAlgebraic geometry is a branch of mathematics which combines techniques of abstract algebra, especially commutative algebra, with the language and the problems of geometry. It occupies a central place in modern mathematics and has multiple conceptual connections with such diverse fields as complex...
, late 1950s - Séminaire Delange-Pisot, then Delange-Pisot-Poitou, from 1959http://www.iecn.u-nancy.fr/~eguether/bibliotheque/DELANGE.pdf, number theoryNumber theoryNumber theory is a branch of pure mathematics devoted primarily to the study of the integers. Number theorists study prime numbers as well...
- Séminaire Ehresmann, differential geometry and category theoryCategory theoryCategory theory is an area of study in mathematics that examines in an abstract way the properties of particular mathematical concepts, by formalising them as collections of objects and arrows , where these collections satisfy certain basic conditions...
; Charles EhresmannCharles EhresmannCharles Ehresmann was a French mathematician who worked on differential topology and category theory. He is known for work on the topology of Lie groups, the jet concept , and his seminar on category theory.He attended the École Normale Supérieure in Paris before performing one year of military... - Séminaire Grothendieck, from 1957, became Grothendieck's Séminaire de Géométrie Algébrique
- Séminaire Janet, differential equationDifferential equationA differential equation is a mathematical equation for an unknown function of one or several variables that relates the values of the function itself and its derivatives of various orders...
s - Séminaire Kahane
- Séminaire Lelong, several complex variablesSeveral complex variablesThe theory of functions of several complex variables is the branch of mathematics dealing with functionson the space Cn of n-tuples of complex numbers...
- Séminaire Schwartz, functional analysisFunctional analysisFunctional analysis is a branch of mathematical analysis, the core of which is formed by the study of vector spaces endowed with some kind of limit-related structure and the linear operators acting upon these spaces and respecting these structures in a suitable sense...
; Laurent SchwartzLaurent SchwartzLaurent-Moïse Schwartz was a French mathematician. He pioneered the theory of distributions, which gives a well-defined meaning to objects such as the Dirac delta function. He was awarded the Fields medal in 1950 for his work...