
Maryam Mirzakhani, first woman and Iranian to win Fields Medal, has died - urahara
https://thewire.in/158018/maryam-mirzakhani-fields-medal-rouhani/
======
mrkgnao
I hope to study (non-inter-universal) Teichmueller theory some day, as a side
quest on my own journey (which is vaguely directed in some sense toward number
theory at present). It's the best way I can think of to honor her memory: to
learn to appreciate the ideas that she devoted her life to understanding
better.

Here is a picture of her drawing on one of her vast sheets of paper.

[https://news.artnet.com/app/news-upload/2014/08/Maryam-
Mirza...](https://news.artnet.com/app/news-upload/2014/08/Maryam-Mirzakhani-
doodle-aug-2014-03-e1408246269295.png)

~~~
_delirium
Interesting, I don't think I've run into another mathematician who sketches on
large sheets of paper like that (not that that means there aren't any). I do
know some architects who like to work that way, and it used to be common in
engineering (rarer in recent years), but mathematicians seem to always be
depicted working either in notebooks, on the backs of napkins, or on
whiteboards/blackboards.

~~~
eigenstuff
I'm an artist who makes math and physics visualization sculptures, I LOVE
taking notes on 18"x24" drawing paper with a combination of colored pencil,
fountain pen, and gel pen. For long derivations rather than notes/sketches, I
prefer 11"x14" drawing paper in two columns because I think it's more
comfortable to work with, but it still gives me that bird's-eye view of
everything I want if I go back and color code stuff. A lot of my work is done
in regular size sketchbooks, though.

~~~
Eyes
I have no idea what math and physics visualization sculptures refers to, but
would love to see if you can show us.

------
MichaelBurge
It looks like her research is here:

[http://math.stanford.edu/~mmirzakh/Research.html](http://math.stanford.edu/~mmirzakh/Research.html)

And the paper in question that got the Fields Medal might be one of these:

[http://math.stanford.edu/~mmirzakh/Papers/VA.pdf](http://math.stanford.edu/~mmirzakh/Papers/VA.pdf)

[https://arxiv.org/pdf/1206.5574.pdf](https://arxiv.org/pdf/1206.5574.pdf)

It looks like her work involved counting the number of equivalent paths
between two points on surfaces that have been punctured.

~~~
dbranes
Curtis McMullen describes Mirzakhani's prize-winning work here

[http://www.math.harvard.edu/~ctm/papers/home/text/papers/icm...](http://www.math.harvard.edu/~ctm/papers/home/text/papers/icm14/icm14.pdf)

and as a talk at 2014 ICM

[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VC7MZv1JH8w](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VC7MZv1JH8w)

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Mz
If anyone needs any background info on her work, there are a number of sources
gathered here:

[http://micheleincalifornia.blogspot.com/2014/08/links-on-
mar...](http://micheleincalifornia.blogspot.com/2014/08/links-on-maryam-
mirzakhani-first-fields.html)

It includes this, a quote that is the best laymen's explanation of her work
that I could find:

 _Mirzakhani became fascinated with hyperbolic surfaces — doughnut-shaped
surfaces with two or more holes that have a non-standard geometry which,
roughly speaking, gives each point on the surface a saddle shape. Hyperbolic
doughnuts can’t be constructed in ordinary space; they exist in an abstract
sense, in which distances and angles are measured according to a particular
set of equations. An imaginary creature living on a surface governed by such
equations would experience each point as a saddle point.

It turns out that each many-holed doughnut can be given a hyperbolic structure
in infinitely many ways — with fat doughnut rings, narrow ones, or any
combination of the two. In the century and a half since such hyperbolic
surfaces were discovered, they have become some of the central objects in
geometry, with connections to many branches of mathematics and even physics._

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jacobkg
I remember how excited I was when she received the award as a role model for
women and immigrants, and a reminder of how great minds can come from places
the US considers enemies. My wife (33) spent most of last year being treated
for Breast Cancer (now in remission). This news makes me profoundly sad.

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oefrha
I took her hyperbolic geometry class last year (my senior year at Stanford)
and she looked perfectly healthy. She even gave me some advice on my grad
school offers. What a shock...

~~~
akalin
I was auditing that same class. I remember a bunch of us coming to her office
hours, and her telling us about her work, and life in Iran.

Truly a sad day.

~~~
oefrha
And I remember seeing her daughter once or twice there. A lovely little girl.

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snake117
This actually shook me awake when I read this. It was just a few months ago my
aunts where sharing articles (through Telegram) with us, from Iran, about
Maryam and her accomplishments. She was brilliant and really did serve as an
inspiration to many Iranians all over. May she rest in peace.

~~~
agumonkey
What saddens is that I thought (after talking to many cancer institutes) that
breast cancer was one potentially favorable case. Alas cancer is random.

------
akalin
Terry Tao wrote a eulogy for her on his blog:
[https://terrytao.wordpress.com/2017/07/15/maryam-
mirzakhani/](https://terrytao.wordpress.com/2017/07/15/maryam-mirzakhani/)

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lr4444lr
Terrible to lose such a notable person at age 40 due to breast cancer,
diagnosed when she was in her mid-30s no less.

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mncharity
The 2014 article [https://www.quantamagazine.org/maryam-mirzakhani-is-first-
wo...](https://www.quantamagazine.org/maryam-mirzakhani-is-first-woman-fields-
medalist-20140812) , with the IMU video
[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qNuh4uta8oQ](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qNuh4uta8oQ)
.

2008 interview
[http://www.claymath.org/library/annual_report/ar2008/08Inter...](http://www.claymath.org/library/annual_report/ar2008/08Interview.pdf)
.

"I would like to thank all those who have sent me kind emails. I very much
appreciate them and I am very sorry if I could not reply."

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theCricketer
An interview with Maryam from 2008 when she was a Research Fellow at the Clay
Mathematical Institute -> this is inspiring:
[http://www.claymath.org/library/annual_report/ar2008/08Inter...](http://www.claymath.org/library/annual_report/ar2008/08Interview.pdf)

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urahara
She was absolutely brilliant in so many ways, what a loss.

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hi41
Deeply saddened to hear this news. I have immense respect for people like
Maryam and Vera Rubin. They could have used their incredible genius to earn
riches. Instead they devoted their lives to further math and science. When it
was declared that Maryam won the Fields Medal I read the summary. I could
barely understand even one word of the summary leave alone the actual work.
People like Maryam amaze me. I am just a ordinary mortal working in a tech
company. If God had asked me I would have told him to take my life and let
Maryam live so we could have progress in math. Life is so unfair. I can't
image how much math's progress has suffered with her passing. Deepest
condolences to her family. RIP.

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throwaway5752
What a tragic loss for the mathematics community and her husband and young
daughter. Deepest condolences to her family, friends, colleagues, and
students.

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bhnmmhmd
This was terrible news today. It made me genuinely sad. I hope she rests in
peace while all the humanity honors her.

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adyavanapalli
Oh no :/ Such a terrible loss..

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rurban
I cried a bit. Life is unfair

~~~
eternalban
I feel sadness for her family, specially her spouse and daughter - sucks
losing your mom and wife. As for Maryam herself, nothing to cry about I would
think. She shined brightly, lived a full life, and here we are all wishing her
RIP. I think she did fine.

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tomrod
What a sad day. Too soon.

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afshinmeh
RIP, very sorry to hear this news.

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Lotus123
Sad news

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dbranes
It's immensely disappointing that this comment section has has an abundance of
comments on iranian socio-political issues, while completely devoid of any
discussion on dynamics on moduli spaces.

~~~
dang
I agree with you but this tar is so sticky that any trace of it, even one
brought up to negate it, will only attract more of the same and start the
cycle all over again. Therefore I need to detach this subthread from
[https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=14776588](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=14776588)
and mark it off-topic (as of course I mark my own comments that go into this).
You're welcome to post another comment upthread that's on topic and tar-free.

~~~
ars
Suggestion: Have threads marked offtopic start "collapsed". People can open
them if they wish (and the browser will remember it), but they start closed.

~~~
dang
This (edit: or something like it) is on the list.

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brian_herman
Can we get a black bar for this?

~~~
eganist
This definitely needs one.

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Jabanga
How tragic.

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thr31238893
This is such sad news. RIP.

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0xFFC
Iranian here, one point I really want to mention is following despite our
theocratic regime, really I have to mention, Iran is not Suadi Arabia or
anything like that. Girls and Boys do get the almost exactly same education,
they have great opportunity to be a successful scholar in any branch of
science they want (yes, It is like USA, your parent demographic will decide
which university you most like end up into. But this issue is the issue of
most part of the world and we cannot blame Iran, USA or any specific country
for this, we should blame the system).

She got her bachelor degree from one of our top universities (Sharif
University) and went to Harvard from there and there is plenty of science-
eager students like her are there waiting for an opportunity to become next
Maryam Mirzakhani.

Come to Tehran. I know you hear a lot of bad thing about Tehran and Iran from
Right wing political media outlets. But believe me, you are going to see Paris
of the middle east and whole new generation of liberal people who believe in
personal freedom and freedom of speech.

It really bothered me when I saw her talking about how people of USA think
about Iran as desert and all women wearing an abaya. No they are not, we are a
new generation and we are different and although our regime tries its best to
suppress us, we are the future of Iran.

~~~
carsongross
More and more Americans understand that anti-Iranian sentiment here is mainly
due to propaganda, not any rational considerations. Iran should be a natural
ally of the US.

~~~
acjohnson55
The Iranian hardliners do a lot to stoke that flame too. Much like us, they
have a polarized society. Their support for Hezbollah, Hamas, and other
problematic groups complicates things too. Add to that the fact that it would
be tough to repair the rift with Iran, while managing our Saudi relationship.

All that said, I think it's a worthy undertakings to normalize relations with
Iran. And selfishly, I look forward to the day when I can freely visit Persia
as an American.

~~~
curiousgal
Honest question, how does Iran's support for Hezbollah and Hamas directly
affect Americans? I'd argue that Saudi Arabia's support for ISIS and Al-Qaeda
had more/actual negative effects on Americans.

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bhnmmhmd
How is it that brilliant, genius people who truly help our world become a
better place die young, while people who bring nothing but destruction and
war, live for decades?

~~~
dang
We detached this subthread from
[https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=14776536](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=14776536)
and marked it off-topic.

