Simon
Guisset

This section will be devoted to the non-mathematicians among us. It could potentially be called ‘what does this guy do for a living’?
Working as a mathematician certainly brings a lot of questions to those whose last mathematical memories stopped at their final exams in high school, when they could finally say ‘never again’.

I’m a mathematician working in gravity, which means I use math to understand how the universe bends and warps. My job is to develop mathematical tools that help us understand gravity, black holes, and the overall structure of the universe. I spend my days working with complex equations and abstract concepts. It’s like exploring a whole new world, but instead of a map, I have a pencil and paper. And who knows, maybe someday my work will lead to a breakthrough that changes the way we see the universe (nope). Or maybe I’ll just end up proving that cats are the true rulers of the cosmos. Either way, it’s a wild ride!

As a future mathematician, my job is to prove theorems – but what exactly is a theorem? In my case, these theorems apply to General Relativity (GR), a theory of gravitation. To study it, there are many methods, including numerical and analytical ones. In the analytical approach, GR can be seen as a theory involving complex equations of functions that fall into the beautiful category of Non-linear Partial Differential Equations (NLPDE). So, what do I do? I analyze NLPDEs.

Now, you may wonder, what’s the point of proving theorems? How does that relate to physics? It’s a deep question that could fill books. Essentially, I’m trying to write mathematical statements. Of course, I can’t just expect people to take my word for it – I need to prove those statements. While the notion of truth in math isn’t the same as in physics or natural sciences, the two are certainly not unrelated. Mathematics has proven incredibly effective at describing the world, and any quantitative theory has to make sense mathematically. In my case, that means studying the math behind gravitation.

Certainly, those questions warrant more detailed explanations, which you may find on this website in the future. So, stay tuned and keep connected!