At fields are delivered during International Congress of Mathematicians (ICM), an event that brings together thousands of mathematicians from all over the world. These conferences, organized by the International Mathematical Union (IMU)take place every four years in a different place on the planet, and in 2018 Saint Petersburg was chosen as the next location.
But the IMU issued on February 26 a release explaining that given “Russia’s actions, condemned around the world”, ICM2022 would be “fully virtual and hosted outside of Russia”. In this way, it responded to the request of mathematical societies from several countries, including Spain.
The Fields medals, however, the winners of which are kept secret until the last moment, would be delivered in person, at a location that the Feb. 26 communiqué did not specify.
The IMU has announced now to its members who will be in Helsinki the next July, 5th. Before that, also in the Finnish capital, the general meeting of the IMU, which has the presence of representatives from all member countries.
It is up to Spain to participate with four people. O Spanish Mathematics Committee is directed by Alfonso Gordaliza, from the University of Valladolid.
Russian mathematicians against the war
Shortly after the IMU announced its decision to move the Fields delivery out of Russia, Russian mathematicians made it public. a letter addressed directly to Vladimir Putin and entitled mathematicians against war, demanding “the immediate cessation of military actions and the withdrawal of Russian troops from the territory of Ukraine”.
“Mathematics has always been one of the few areas of fundamental science in which Russia has maintained a leading position. world leadership”, note the signatories, who add: “Russia was supposed to host the most prestigious mathematical conference in the world, the International Congress of Mathematicians, in the summer of 2022. The International Mathematical Union canceled this decision in connection with the Russian attack on Ukraine. In a situation where our country has become a military aggressor and, as a result, a rogue state, Russia’s leading positions in world mathematics will be irrevocably lost.”
The signatories remember for Putin that “mathematics was considered a priority area for the development of the Russian Federation”, but that its development “cannot be achieved under current conditions, when the lives of our closest colleagues, the Ukrainian scientistswith whom we have been linked for many years of successful joint work, are daily exposed to danger, the source of which is the Russian army, and when Russia is in international isolation, without the possibility of intensive scientific exchange and cooperation with scientists from other countries.” .
“We are convinced that no geopolitical interest can justify casualties and bloodshed. The war will only make the country lose its future, which we work for”, point out the Russian mathematicians.
Fields medalist Andrei Okounkov, Russian, organizer of ICM2022, accompanied by mathematician Jon Kleinberg and fellow medalist Terry Tao. / IMU