Luciano Boi

Penser par diagrammes et transformations: des nœuds aux espaces

  
Biography

Luciano Boi is Associate Professor of Geometry, Scientific Theorization and Natural Philosophy at the Ecole des Hautes Etudes en Sciences Sociales, in the Centre de Mathématiques (Paris). He studied mathematics, physics and philosophy at the Universities of Bologna, Paris and Berlin, and received his Doctorate as well as his Habilitation from the EHESS. His main interests include various aspects of mathematics and theoretical physics, the geometric modeling of spatial perception, as well as the history and philosophy of sciences. He is author of numerous books and articles on these subjects.

Abstract

Our world, at different scales, abounds in knotted and linked rings. Qualitative similarities may be observed between forms of the microscopic world, as well as between those of the macroscopic world; and by extracting the structures, it is possible to study their dynamics thanks to topological concepts and methods. The lecture is aimed at showing, first, that knots and links are ubiquitous scale-independent objects carrying an amount of precious information on the emergence of new forms and structures in the mathematical and real world, and secondly, that a rich manifold of interesting spaces can be constructed from knots and braids by applying diagramatic and projection techniques. This will allow us to illustrate some striking relationships and common features between topological, natural and artistic spaces.