The first James (Jim) Perry Browne Sussex Mathematics Colloquium was delivered by Fields medalist Prof Alessio Figalli (from ETH, Zurich) on the 10th June 2021. 

Prof Figalli explained to a non-specialist audience the theory of optimal transport, for which he was awarded the Fields Medal (equivalent to the 'Nobel prize' in Mathematics):

"A walk through optimal transport and its applications"

At the end of the 18th century, optimal transport theory was introduced by Gaspard Monge to understand the most efficient way of transporting a distribution of material from one place to another to build fortifications. In the last 30 years, this theory has found various applications in many mathematical problems, inspired both by nature and machine learning. In this talk, Prof Figalli will present some of the applications that have been most relevant in his research.

Find out more about Dr James (Jim) Perry Browne and the establishment of the Dr Perry James Browne Research Centre on Mathematics and its Applications: http://www.sussex.ac.uk/maths/about/newsandevents?id=55282