Sophie Germain, from primes to elasticity

Continuing the tradition of celebrating the 'May12 Celebration of Women in Mathematics" at the Institute for Mathematics of the University of Zurich with a talk on the life and work of a women mathematician, we are please to announce this year a talk on Sophie Germain in occasion the 250th anniversary of her birth. 

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Wednesday, May 20 2025, 17:15, Y15-G-19

Sophie Germain, from primes to elasticity

lecture given by Prof. Dr. Elisa Gorla (Neuchatel) 

               and by Prof. Dr. Mikaela Iacobelli (ETH)

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Abstract:

Do you know what are Germain's primes and why they are useful in criptography? How do you explain patterns of a vibrating plate? Should we call the mean curvature of a surface 'Germain curvature'?  Sophie Germain (1776-1831), worked  and corresponded with Lagrange, Legendre, and Gauss  under the pseudonym of Monsieur Le Blanc  was the first woman to win a major competitive research prize in mathematics. In this talk in 3 parts, accessible to all students, after a short video on Germain's life, professors Elisa Gorla (Neuchatel) and Mikaela Iacobelli (ETH) will explain some of her fundamental contributions to number theory and to the theory of elasticity.