RANDOM CRACKS IN SPACE

ABOUT THE SPEAKER: Wendelin Werner is a world renowned scientist, whose exciting work intertwines probability theory with mathematical physics and complex analysis. Werner is often motivated by problems in statistical physics which involve critical phenomena in the large scale behavior of complex multi-particle systems; such as those that arise in phase transitions and percolation. His profound work on stochastic Loewner evolution, the fractal geometry of two dimensional Brownian motion and conformal field theory earned Werner both the Fields medal and the SIAM Pólya Prize (together with collaborators Greg Lawler and Oded Schramm) in 2006. In addition, Werner is the recipient of the European Mathematical Society Prize (2000), the Fermat Prize (2001), the Jacques Herbrand Prize (2003), the Loève Prize (2005) and was inducted into the French Academy of Sciences in 2008. Werner received his Ph.D in 1993 from the Universitè Paris VI under the direction of Jean-François Le Gall and has held positions at the Cambridge University, Universitè Paris-Sud and Ecole Normale Supèrieure before being named Professor of Mathematics at ETH Zürich in 2013.