Infosys Prize Lectures

Sabyasachi Mukherjee

Sabyasachi Mukherjee

Associate Professor, School of Mathematics
Tata Institute of Fundamental Research
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LECTURES
The lectures will be live streamed and details will be posted here closer to the date
General talk

Title: From Simple Rules to Wild Universes: The Common Geometry of Chaos

📅17 September 2026🕐3:15 PM – 4:15 PM
📍Platinum Jubilee Auditorium, ISI Bangalore Centre
🖼️Poster 🎓ISF Link

Abstract: What connects planetary motion, weather unpredictability, and the geometric beauty of fractals? The answer lies in dynamical systems–the study of how systems evolve over time under physical or mathematical rules. In this talk, we embark on a visual journey through complex dynamics and chaos. We explore how simple operations–from finding polynomial roots via Newton’s method to reflecting across geometric boundaries–give rise to rich fractal landscapes like the Mandelbrot and Julia sets. Finally, we will highlight how modern mathematics bridges the gap between two seemingly distinct mathematical worlds: repeated applications of algebraic functions and iterated reflections in circular mirrors. By fusing these different rules into a common “hybrid” dynamical system, we unlock new insights into real algebraic geometry, statistical physics, and universal fractal sets.

Specialized talk

Title: Algebraic Correspondences: Where Mandelbrot Sets Meet Teichmuller Spaces

📅17 September 2026🕐5:00 PM – 6:00 PM
📍Platinum Jubilee Auditorium, ISI Bangalore Centre
🖼️Poster 🎓ISF Link

Abstract: Connections between two branches of conformal dynamics–rational dynamics on the Riemann sphere and actions of Kleinian groups–have long been observed. Fatou envisioned in the 1920s that these actions could be studied within a unified framework of iterated algebraic correspondences. We provide concrete evidence to this vision by constructing algebraic correspondences as combinations/matings of complex polynomials and Fuchsian groups, allowing features of both theories to coexist in a single dynamical setting. At the level of parameter spaces, this leads naturally to products of Teichm¨uller spaces and Mandelbrot sets inside appropriate moduli spaces of ramified covers of the Riemann sphere. We will outline the main analytic and algebraic ideas of this program, discuss connections with other areas of mathematics, and highlight several open questions.

Refreshments will be served between the talks

Organised By

Infosys Science Foundation

Indian Statistical Institute, Bengaluru