Illustration as a Mathematical Research Technique, Paris:

January 5th to April 3rd, 2026.

Thematic trimester programme at the Institut Henri Poincaré, Paris

Mathematical understanding is built in many ways. Among these, illustration has been a companion and tool to research for as long as research has taken place. We use the term illustration to encompass any of the many ways one might bring a mathematical idea into physical form or experience, including computer visualization, 3D printing, and virtual reality, among others. With modern tools, illustration can even make mathematics an experimental science, so that computational results can drive the cycle of problem, conjecture, and proof. Today, modern technology for the first time places the production of far more complicated 3D models within the reach of many individual mathematicians. Moreover, the very process of illustration itself challenges our understanding of a mathematical topic and forces us to answer questions we may not have posed otherwise.

This trimester program will bring together mathematicians using illustration as a research tool with mathematicians newly learning these tools. The group will be comprised of members from various areas of mathematics. The mains goals of the trimester are:

• advancing research through the use of mathematical illustration;
• disseminating the skills for the creation of mathematical illustration and its use in research;
• furthering the theory of illustration as a tool.

Main scientific event:

The conferences and courses of this programme will also be accessible online.

January 5th to April 3rd, 2025: Illustration as a Mathematical Research Technique (IHP, Paris).

Introductory School:

January 5th to 9th:

Illustration as a Mathematical Research Technique at CIRM (Marseille)

Workshops:

• January 19th to 23rd, 2026:
  Rigorous Illustrations - Their creation and evaluation for mathematical research (IHP, Paris).
• February 16th to 20th, 2026:
  Bridging visualization and understanding in Geometry (IHP, Paris).
• March 23rd to 27th, 2026:
  Integrating Research and Illustration in Number Theory (IHP, Paris).

Organising committee:

• David Bachman (Pitzer College)
• Rémi Coulon (CNRS / Université de Bourgogne)
• Gabriel Dorfsman-Hopkins (St. Lawrence University)
• Edmund Harriss (University of Arkansas)
• Martin Skrodzki (TU Delft)
• Katherine E. Stange (University of Colorado Boulder)
• Glen Whitney (Studio Infinity)

Scientific committee:

• Alexander Holroyd (University of Bristol )
• Saul Schleimer (University of Warwick )
• Henry Segerman (Oklahoma State University)
• Laura Taalman (James Madison University)

Programme coordinated by the Centre Emile Borel at IHP

Sorbonne Université, CNRS