The following questions arise quite naturally from what we see around us. Why are soap bubbles that float in air approximately spherical? Why does a herd of reindeer form a round shape when attacked by wolves? Of all geometric objects having a certain property, which ones have the greatest area or volume; and of all objects having a certain property, which ones have the least perimeter or surface area? These problems have been stimulating much mathematical thought. Mathematicians have been trying to answer such questions and this has led to a branch of mathematical analysis known as “shape optimisation problems”.
ABOUT THE SPEAKER
Professor Anisa is an Associate Professor at IISER Pune, where she works in the field of Shape Optimization Problems. She is also a member of the Committee for Women in Mathematics (CWM) of the International Mathematical Union (IMU). In addition, she was featured in the Faces of Women in Mathematics! film supported by the CWM-IMU, a project that brought together 146 clips showcasing 243 women mathematicians from 36 countries, speaking 31 different languages.
