Interview at Cirm: Mark Pollicott

Interview realized during the 'Thematic Month on Dynamical Systems and Interactions' at Cirm, organized by Nicolas Bédaride (Aix-Marseille Université), Julien Cassaigne (Aix-Marseille Université), Pascal Hubert (Aix-Marseille Université).

Captation: 23 February 2017

Mark Pollicott (born 24 September 1959) is a British mathematician known for his contributions to ergodic theory and dynamical systems. He has a particular interest in applications to other areas of mathematics, including geometry, number theory and analysis.

Pollicott attended High Pavement College in Nottingham, where his teachers included the Booker prize winning author Stanley Middleton. He gained a BSc in Mathematics and Physics in 1981 and a PhD in Mathematics in 1984 both at the University of Warwick. His PhD supervisor was Bill Parry and his thesis title The Ruelle Operator, Zeta Functions and the Asymptotic Distribution of Closed Orbits.

He held permanent positions at the University of Edinburgh, University of Porto, and University of Warwick before appointment to the Fielden Chair of Pure Mathematics in Manchester (1996–2004). He then returned to a professorship at Warwick in 2005. In addition, he has held numerous visiting positions including ones at the IHES in Paris, the Institute for Advanced Study in Princeton, MSRI in University of California, Berkeley, Caltech and Grenoble. He has been recipient of a Royal Society University Research Fellowship, two Leverhulme Trust Senior Research Fellowships and an E.U. Marie Curie Chair.

Research Interests

'My main research area is Thermodynamic Formalism. I am particularly interested in applications to other areas of mathematics, including geometry, number theory and analysis'.

A Little Background

'I was both an undergraduate (in Mathematics and Physics) and a graduate student (in Mathematics at Warwick University. My PhD supervisor was the late William Parry, FRS. I returned to Warwick for the first time from 1992 to 1995 (as a Lecturer, then Reader) and for the second time in 2005 (to a chair)'.

'When not at Warwick, I held permanent positions in Edinburgh (New Blood Lecturer, 1984-88), Porto (Investigador Auxiliar, 1989-92) and Manchester (Fielden chair, 1996-2004).
I have also been the recipient of a Royal Society University Research Fellowship (1992-97), two Royal Society Leverhulme Trust Senior Research Fellowships (1998-99 and 2007-2008) and a E.U. Marie Curie Chair (2004-05). I currently hold a five year EPSRC Leadership Fellowship (2015-2020). In addition, I have held visiting positions at IHES (Paris, 1984-85 and 2012-13), IAS (Princeton, 1988-89), MSRI (Berkeley, 1989), CalTech (Pasadena, 1990) and Grenoble (1990)'.

'I co-organized a 6 month programme on Ergodic Theory, Geometric Rigidity and Number Theory at the Newton Institute (2000); a year long symposium on Ergodic Theory and Dynamical Systems (2010-2011); a 6 month programme on Fluctuations and Large Deviations at the CIB-Lausanne (2013); and a 4 month programme at ICERM-Providence (2016).
I am a consulting editor for the Proceedings of the Edinburgh Mathematical Society and an editor for the Journal of Fractal Geometry and a former editor of Ergodic Theory and Dynamical Systems and Discrete and Continuous Dynamical Systems'.