8ECM: Interview with Yves Benoist

What is your research domain?

Discrete subgroups of Lie groups. It is a subject at the interface between algebra, analysis, geometry and probability.

[Read Yves Benoist's paper Partition function and Heisenberg group on this website]

What does being a mathematician mean to you?

To be a mathematician is first of all to be curious about numbers, figures, abstract concepts and their interrelationships. A curiosity goaded by the desire to do something new and useful.

What do you like about being a mathematician?

One fascinating aspect is the discovery of the mathematical landscapes painted in the 19th and 20th centuries. Each mathematics book is a painting of a part of this landscape.

Could you tell us about mathematicians who have made an impression on you?

More than mathematicians, it is the evolution of great ideas that mark me. For example, the history of the central limit theorem or that of quadratic reciprocity are spread over several centuries and are full of twists and turns.

What does fundamental mathematical science mean to you?

It is because mathematics are a universal language with multiple applications that our society encourages its development. Drawing inspiration and extracting from applications enriches this language, opening the way to unexpected applications.

What does collaborative work mean to you?

The greatest mathematicians of past centuries such as Gauss, Poincaré, Harish-Chandra and Perelman are solitary authors. The multiplication of collaborations in mathematics appeared at the turn of the 21st century. It is becoming almost the norm as new modes of funding and evaluation of research favour it.