Stanislav Konstantinovich Smirnov (; born 3 September 1970) is a Russian

mathematician A mathematician is someone who uses an extensive knowledge of mathematics in their work, typically to solve mathematical problems. Mathematicians are concerned with numbers, data, quantity, mathematical structure, structure, space, Mathematica ...

currently working as a professor at the

University of Geneva The University of Geneva (French: ''Université de Genève'') is a public university, public research university located in Geneva, Switzerland. It was founded in 1559 by French theologian John Calvin as a Theology, theological seminary. It rema ...

. He was awarded the

Fields Medal The Fields Medal is a prize awarded to two, three, or four mathematicians under 40 years of age at the International Congress of Mathematicians, International Congress of the International Mathematical Union (IMU), a meeting that takes place e ...

in 2010. His research involves

complex analysis Complex analysis, traditionally known as the theory of functions of a complex variable, is the branch of mathematical analysis that investigates functions of complex numbers. It is helpful in many branches of mathematics, including algebraic ...

dynamical systems In mathematics, a dynamical system is a system in which a Function (mathematics), function describes the time dependence of a Point (geometry), point in an ambient space, such as in a parametric curve. Examples include the mathematical models ...

and

probability theory Probability theory or probability calculus is the branch of mathematics concerned with probability. Although there are several different probability interpretations, probability theory treats the concept in a rigorous mathematical manner by expre ...

Career

Stanislav Smirnov graduated Saint Petersburg Lyceum 239, a highly selective high school, which is alma-mater for many well-known mathematicians. During his high-school years, he won two perfect scores in

International Mathematical Olympiad The International Mathematical Olympiad (IMO) is a mathematical olympiad for pre-university students, and is the oldest of the International Science Olympiads. It is widely regarded as the most prestigious mathematical competition in the wor ...

1986 and 1987. He received his undergraduate and master degree in mathematics from the

Saint Petersburg State University Saint Petersburg State University (SPBGU; ) is a public research university in Saint Petersburg, Russia, and one of the oldest and most prestigious universities in Russia. Founded in 1724 by a decree of Peter the Great, the university from the be ...

, one of the top universities in Russia, in 1992. In 1996, he defended his Ph.D. thesis, ''Spectral Analysis of Julia Sets'', at

Caltech The California Institute of Technology (branded as Caltech) is a private university, private research university in Pasadena, California, United States. The university is responsible for many modern scientific advancements and is among a small g ...

, with Nikolai Makarov as his primary thesis advisor. After spending time at Yale University and Princeton's

Institute for Advanced Study The Institute for Advanced Study (IAS) is an independent center for theoretical research and intellectual inquiry located in Princeton, New Jersey. It has served as the academic home of internationally preeminent scholars, including Albert Ein ...

as a postdoc, Smirnov joined the faculty of the

Royal Institute of Technology KTH Royal Institute of Technology (), abbreviated KTH, is a public research university in Stockholm, Sweden. KTH conducts research and education in engineering and technology and is Sweden's largest technical university. Since 2018, KTH consist ...

Stockholm Stockholm (; ) is the Capital city, capital and List of urban areas in Sweden by population, most populous city of Sweden, as well as the List of urban areas in the Nordic countries, largest urban area in the Nordic countries. Approximately ...

in 1998. In 2003, he become a professor in the Analysis, Mathematical Physics and Probability group at the

. In 2010, Smirnov became the founding director of the Chebyshev Laboratory in

in Russia.

Research

Smirnov has worked on

percolation theory In statistical physics and mathematics, percolation theory describes the behavior of a network when nodes or links are added. This is a geometric type of phase transition, since at a critical fraction of addition the network of small, disconnected ...

, where he proved Cardy's formula for critical site percolation on the triangular lattice, and deduced conformal invariance. The conjecture was proved in the special case of site percolation on the triangular lattice. Smirnov's theorem has led to a fairly complete theory for percolation on the triangular lattice, and to its relationship to the Schramm–Loewner evolution introduced by Oded Schramm. He also established conformality for the

two-dimensional critical Ising model The two-dimensional critical Ising model is the Critical point (thermodynamics), critical limit of the Ising model in two dimensions. It is a two-dimensional conformal field theory whose symmetry algebra is the Virasoro algebra with the central cha ...

Awards

Smirnov was awarded the Saint Petersburg Mathematical Society Prize (1997), the Clay Research Award (2001), the Salem Prize (joint with Oded Schramm, 2001), the Göran Gustafsson Prize (2001), the Rollo Davidson Prize (2002), and the Prize of the

European Mathematical Society The European Mathematical Society (EMS) is a European organization dedicated to the development of mathematics in Europe. Its members are different mathematical societies in Europe, academic institutions and individual mathematicians. The curren ...

(2004). In 2010 Smirnov was awarded the

Fields medal The Fields Medal is a prize awarded to two, three, or four mathematicians under 40 years of age at the International Congress of Mathematicians, International Congress of the International Mathematical Union (IMU), a meeting that takes place e ...

for his work on the mathematical foundations of

statistical physics In physics, statistical mechanics is a mathematical framework that applies statistical methods and probability theory to large assemblies of microscopic entities. Sometimes called statistical physics or statistical thermodynamics, its applicati ...

, particularly finite lattice models. His citation reads "for the proof of conformal invariance of

percolation In physics, chemistry, and materials science, percolation () refers to the movement and filtration, filtering of fluids through porous materials. It is described by Darcy's law. Broader applications have since been developed that cover connecti ...

and the planar

Ising model The Ising model (or Lenz–Ising model), named after the physicists Ernst Ising and Wilhelm Lenz, is a mathematical models in physics, mathematical model of ferromagnetism in statistical mechanics. The model consists of discrete variables that r ...

in statistical physics".

Publications

''Probability and Statistical Physics in St. Petersburg''
American Math Society, (2015)

References

External links

{{DEFAULTSORT:Smirnov, Stanislav 1970 births 20th-century Russian mathematicians 21st-century Russian mathematicians Fields Medalists Institute for Advanced Study visiting scholars Academic staff of the University of Geneva Probability theorists International Mathematical Olympiad participants Living people California Institute of Technology alumni Russian scientists