{"id":702,"date":"2021-08-14T08:31:21","date_gmt":"2021-08-14T06:31:21","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/matematika.mathematiquesvagabondes.fr\/?p=702"},"modified":"2021-09-01T18:11:54","modified_gmt":"2021-09-01T16:11:54","slug":"nizhny-novgorod","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/matematika.mathematiquesvagabondes.fr\/2021\/08\/14\/nizhny-novgorod\/","title":{"rendered":"Rich Nizhny Novgorod\u2019s soil"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

A research conference organized by students<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n

The conference Topological Methods in Dynamical systems and related topics <\/em>starts on Monday, 2nd of August, in the center of Nizhny Novgorod, with an opening speech by Olga Pochinka. In the room full of Russian-speaking mathematicians (some of which came from Unites States, Canada and France), Olga wishes to everybody a wonderful stay in Nizhny Novgorod (which celebrates its 800 years in a couple of weeks), taking pleasure from person-to-person exchange. For most of the participants in the room this conference is the first one they attend in person after one and a half year of pandemic. The talks start right away, with topics ranging from integrable systems to interval exchange transformations and their generalizations, to chaotic dynamics and attractors, with applications in celestial mechanics and mathematical neuroscience. Several mathematicians in the audience are very active and ask their questions “russian style” \u2014 some of the talks become dialogues (or polylogues\u2026) rather than monologues and presentations. Atmosphere is more than lively.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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This conference is organized, for the fourth time, by the International Laboratory of Dynamical Systems and Applications of Higher School of Economics in Nizhny Novgorod. Since 2016 and the foundation and the laboratory, Olga Pochinka is its director. Olga’s warm welcome speech is characteristic of the friendly approach of the laboratory to anybody who comes visit or wants to study mathematics here.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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All the practical details of the conference are completely under control of the “young generation”. Students of the mathematical faculty of HSE give out the badges, put in place excursions and help the speakers to download their slides.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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We are happy to help! It helps us to feel connected to research as early as possible in our studies, and practice our organization skills!”<\/em><\/p><\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n

It is wonderful here in Nizhny Nogorod, and we do not need to leave anywhere else to do a PhD  \u2014 everything is in place here to do research on a very high level.”<\/em><\/p><\/blockquote>\n<\/div><\/div>\n\n\n\n

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Rich Nizhny Novgorod\u2019s soil<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n

The conference feels as a meeting of one big family. It is hard to point out why exactly some conferences feel so welcoming. Small gestures certainly matter. At the conference celebratory buffet, Olga Pochinka makes a tour of the room in order to speak to everybody and clink glasses with them. It is quite a physical exercise since not many people drink juice in the room!..<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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After the buffet, a crowd of mathematicians gets out to the streets for a city tour. Once the official guide leaves, Olga takes over the excursion giving a mathematical feel to it. Olga guides us to the building where the first Dynamical Systems Laboratory in the city was established by Alexander Andronov. A young student from Moscow State University says he has never heard of him \u2014 Olga is surprised since all the students at their lab know very well who Andronov was: the founder of oscillation theory. “Alexander Lyapunov<\/a> (founder of stability theory) and Nikolai Bogolyubov<\/a> (physicist, author of Krylov-Bogolyubov theorem) also worked here, and Vladimir Steklov<\/a> was born in Niznhy Novgorod. That\u2019s how rich our Nizhny Novgorod\u2019s soil is!,”<\/em> says Olga with joy and admiration. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

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One of the researchers at the faculty, Grigory Polotovsky, created a map with all mathematics-related places in Nizny Novgorod \u2014 this map takes the whole wall of the Laboratory. Olga points to us what is written about the building where their Laboratory is situated : <\/p>\n\n\n\n

One of the buildings of Higher School of Economics in Nizhny Novgorod — at the present time it is an only place in the region where the attempt is made to purposefully prepare specialists in fundamental mathematics.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Mathematics continues to grow and prosper on the rich Nizhny Novgorod’s soil.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The best thing in the world<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n

The laboratory of Dynamical students has fifteen PhD students at this time, five of them work with Olga Pochinka. One of them, Marina Barinova, today Olga\u2019s PhD student, works on the problems of existence of energy functions for diffeomorphisms with chaotic dynamics.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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It is a funny story how I got into writing a dissertation. In the beginning, I wanted to teach since I love teaching. Vyacheslav Zigmundovich, with whom I wanted to work on my PhD in parallel to teaching, didn\u2019t accept my teaching aspirations. He thinks that one has to work on one own\u2019s research all the time. So I left mathematics and worked in machine learning at Intel for several years. I was earning well my life, we even managed to buy a flat with my husband. But I got bored at this job very quickly. Mathematics is more interesting for me than programming. Abstract things marvel me. And I know for sure that something more concrete is much less interesting to me \u2014 I tried it. I feel that for me, thinking about a mathematical problem is the best thing in the world.”<\/em><\/p><\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n

After several years, Marina left Intel and started her PhD under supervision of Olga Pochinka. “It is easier for me to work with Olga Vitalyevna”<\/em> Marina says. “I am not afraid to say that I do not understand something with her. I could do it with Vyacheslav Zigmundovich too, but maybe two or three times in a row \u2014 then, I wouldn\u2019t dare ask him the same question all over again. With Olga Vitalyevna, I can say it fifteen times in a row, and she would be patient enough and explain it to me every time!”<\/em> <\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Olga and Vyacheslav<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n
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When Olga\u2019s daughter was born in 2009, she was working together with Vyacheslav Grines on their book Dynamical systems on 2- and 3- manifolds.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Picture from the personal archive of Olga Pochinka \u2014 playing music together with Vyacheslav Grines<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

We had a very strong mathematical tradition for us two, we would be together with Vyacheslav Zigmundovich from morning till night and write something and think together. The work on the book was even more intense. One day before me giving birth, we would continue working together every day, walk to the university, discuss something. But in the middle of our writing of our book, I gave birth. When my daughter was five days old, Vyacheslav Zigmundovich came to our house, he would sit with her, sing lullabies to her, and I would write something, and we would discuss. Thanks to my daughter, she was calm enough so we had such a possibility!  It was, from his side, such a scientific heroic feat \u2014 otherwise I would disappear from mathematical work completely. When you can\u2019t permit yourself to work in a concentrated way, not to go anywhere \u2014 the baby is really small, it needs her mother anyway. So Vyacheslav Zigmundovich really saved me. Every God\u2019s day he would come to me by foot. He would cook something, and make my daughter sleep. I am so thankful to him. He is for me a great example \u2014 that a man could do something like that, never let me disappear from math.”<\/em><\/p><\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n