The 2025-26 Chern Lectures will be given by Bhargav Bhatt, Fernholz Joint Professor of Mathematics at the Institute for Advanced Study and Princeton University, on March 10, 11, and 12, 2026. The title of the series is "p-adic arithmetic geometry".
Lecture Series Abstract: For each prime number p, there is a number system --- the p-adic number system --- rather analogous to the standard (real) number system. This system was discovered in the late 1800s and has played a vital role in many areas of mathematics. The past 15 years have witnessed some major breakthroughs in our understanding of geometries built from this number system, which has had downstream effects, such as the solution of longstanding problems across a variety of fields. In these lectures, I will recount some of this story, with an emphasis on the questions in algebraic geometry (Hodge theory, birational geometry), number theory (Galois representations) and algebraic topology (K-theory) that inspired the recent developments.
Lecture 1: "Harnessing ramification" - The first lecture in this series will take place on Tuesday, March 10, 2026, from 4:10pm to 5:00pm in the Eugene Jarvis Auditorium located in the Grimes Engineering Center. The lecturer will be followed by a reception at 5:15pm in 1015 Evans Hall.
Lecture 2: "Wielding geometry " - The second lecture in the series will take place on Wednesday, March 11, 2026, from 4:10pm to 5:00pm in the Eugene Jarvis Auditorium located in the Grimes Engineering Center.
Lecture 3: "Non-abelian aspects" - The third and final lecture in the series will take place on Thursday, March 12, 2026, from 4:10pm to 5:00pm in 60 Evans Hall.
Bio: Bhargav Bhatt received his PhD in mathematics from Princeton University in 2010, spent a decade in Michigan, and is now the Fernholz Joint Professor of Mathematics at the Institute for Advanced Study and Princeton University. He is interested in algebraic geometry in a broad sense, and especially enjoys arithmetic questions. He has made fundamental contributions to p-adic Hodge theory and applied them to longstanding questions in commutative algebra and algebraic topology. His work has been recognized by several awards, including the Infosys Prize, the Nemmers Prize, the Clay Research Award, and the New Horizons Prize.