Notices of the International Consortium of Chinese Mathematicians

Volume 8 (2020)

Number 2

From fields to Fields

Pages: 19 – 29

DOI: https://dx.doi.org/10.4310/ICCM.2020.v8.n2.a3

Author

Caucher Birkar (DPMMS, Centre for Mathematical Sciences, University of Cambridge, United Kingdom)

Abstract

This short text is the story of my journey to become a mathematician. This is by no means a complete biography. Even my mathematical research will be discussed briefly. Apologies in advance to the many friends whose names are not mentioned here. Thanks to anyone who has helped me in my life in any way.

The title “From fields to Fields” is a shorter version of a similar title of an article published by the University of Nottingham. I picked the title for a few reasons. First, it refers to my childhood when me and my family worked on farming fields moving from one field to another. Second, it refers to the journey from farming fields to the Fields Medal. Third, it refers to the notion of field which is central in many parts of modern mathematics especially algebraic geometry in which one chooses a ground field from the beginning and then changing the field can reveal interesting properties often of an arithmetic nature.

Published 14 April 2021