The software application Xournal, designed for handwritten note-taking, was created by French mathematician Denis Auroux. Beyond his development of open-source tools, Auroux focuses his academic research on the complex intersections of geometry, topology, and mirror symmetry, contributing to the development of invariants in symplectic geometry through advanced techniques such as almost-complex structures.
Academic Training and Early Career
Born in Lyon in 1977, Auroux pursued an extensive mathematical education in France. He was admitted to the École normale supérieure in 1993, followed by a licentiate and maîtrise in mathematics from Paris Diderot University in 1994. He earned a licentiate in physics from Pierre and Marie Curie University in 1995, the same year he passed the agrégation. His master's degree from Paris-Sud University in 1995 centered on Seiberg-Witten invariants. He completed his doctorate at the École polytechnique in 1999 under the supervision of Jean-Pierre Bourguignon and Mikhael Gromov, later finalizing his habilitation at Paris-Sud University in 2003 regarding monodromy invariants.
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Auroux began his international academic tenure as a C. L. E. Moore Instructor at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, holding the position from 1999 to 2002. He transitioned to an assistant professorship there in 2002, becoming an associate professor in 2004 and achieving tenure in 2006. By 2009, he reached the rank of professor. That same year, he moved to the University of California, Berkeley, where he served until 2018. Since the fall of 2018, he has held a position at Harvard University, where his teaching duties have included the Math 55 undergraduate course.
Mathematical Contributions and Recognition
His primary research interests involve low-dimensional topology and symplectic geometry. His publications frequently explore Lefschetz pencils, branched coverings, and homological mirror symmetry. For his professional achievements, he received the Prix Peccot from the Collège de France in 2002 and a Sloan Research Fellowship in 2005. He served as an invited speaker at the European Congress of Mathematicians in Stockholm in 2004 and the International Congress of Mathematicians in Hyderabad in 2010, where he discussed Fukaya categories and bordered Heegaard-Floer homology.
Fast facts
- Born: 1977, Lyon, France
- Education: École normale supérieure, École polytechnique
- Current Institution: Harvard University
- Notable Software: Xournal
- Research Fields: Symplectic geometry, topology, mirror symmetry
- Awards: Prix Peccot (2002), Sloan Research Fellowship (2005)
Questions readers ask
What is the focus of Denis Auroux's research?
He specializes in symplectic geometry, low-dimensional topology, and mirror symmetry.
Did Denis Auroux develop software?
Yes, he is the author of the open-source handwritten note-taking software Xournal, which evolved into Xournal++.
Achievements
- Held posts at University of California, Berkeley
