Bio

PhD thesis (Nancy 1): Formes presque déployées des groupes de Kac-Moody sur des corps quelconques (9.IX.1999). Postdoc, Hebrew University of Jerusalem, 2000/2001. Maître de conférences at Institut Fourier (Grenoble 1), September 2001-September 2004. Habilitation (Grenoble 1): Sur les propriétés algébriques and géométriques des groupes de Kac-Moody (10.XII.2003).

Professor at Lyon 1 since September 2004; first class professor since September 2010. Since September 2014: full professor at École polytechnique (on leave from Univ. Lyon 1).

Institut Universitaire de France, junior member since October 2009. Invited speaker at the ICM 2014 (Seoul); section 7: Lie theory and generalizations. F.W. Bessel Research Award from the Alexander von Humboldt Foundation, October 2014.

Project

The main object of study in my research is a group. Groups correspond to the most basic structure in mathematics. its simplicity allows one to encode and formalize symmetries in many situations, not only in mathematics. Typically, groups can be used to classify, via the notion of symmetry possibly in conceptual senses, objects like crystals, wallpaper (i.e. 2-dimensional periodic ornaments), particles, etc. My specific goal during my week in Olot will be to understand to what extent computer science can help in producing small subsets in groups which are sufficient to generate the whole structure.