28,000 pages by Alexandre Grothendieck
He changed the landscape of mathematics. Alexandre Grothendieck left behind some 28,000 unpublished pages. This treasure trove, which may contain the master's final flashes of genius, is finally being unveiled. The website dedicated to the Grothendieck archives is now live.
Alexandre Grothendieck passed away on November 13, 2014, at the age of 86. For a long time, the enfant terrible of mathematics had distanced himself from the scientific community. He took refuge in Lasserre, a small village in the Pyrenees, where he lived the life of a hermit. The founder of algebraic geometry, the greatest mathematician of the 20th century—as many of his peers called him—had chosen silence.
Peace and environmental activist
Should we continue our research? This was the question asked early on by this peace activist who advocated radical environmentalism. In 1970, he found his answer. Upon learning that the Institute for Advanced Scientific Studies, where he was working at the time, was receiving subsidies from the Department of Defense, Grothendieck resigned.
Since then, however, the master has never stopped writing, corresponding, and working. In 1990, he entrusted his entire mathematical archive to Jean Malgoire. This former student, Professor the University of Montpellier, kept the Grothendieck archive at his home until 2010, when he deposited it at the University of Montpellier.
Unpublished manuscripts
The Grothendieck collection brings together unpublished manuscripts of major mathematical theories of the 20th century, particularly in algebraic geometry. It represents the majority of Grothendieck's work from 1949 to 1991 and reveals the scientific exchanges of a mathematician at the pinnacle of international research. It also provides insights into the development of his work.
After inventory and conservation measures, these documents were digitized starting in 2016. Since May 10, a significant portion (approximately 18,000 pages) has been freely accessible on the Internet. What can we discover there? Undoubtedly, new flashes of genius, scattered throughout numerous and disparate writings."Seeds that we must germinate,"suggests Jean Malgoire. In the field of mathematics, Alexandre Grothendieck may not have finished shedding light on unknown territories.