Lie theory, deformations and their impact on life sciences and beyond

Join us for the Royal Society Africa Prize Lecture delivered by Professor Ali Baklouti.

The Royal Society Africa Prize is awarded to Professor Ali Baklouti for his work on non-commutative harmonic analysis and geometry on homogeneous spaces.

This talk explores the fundamental role of Lie theory in advancing diverse scientific fields, particularly those related to living systems. A key aspect of this contribution lies in deformation theory, which enhances our understanding of symmetries and their transformations across various disciplines.

By examining Lie groups and their deformations, this presentation illustrates their far-reaching impact in fields such as medicine, physics, chemistry, and biology. These mathematical structures offer new perspectives and innovative solutions to complex scientific challenges, fostering interdisciplinary advancements.

Beyond its applications in the life sciences, Lie theory remains central to pure mathematics, particularly in harmonic analysis, differential geometry, and algebra, while also influencing modern developments in theoretical physics and computer science. This talk underscores the unifying power of Lie groups and deformations, positioning them as essential tools for both theoretical exploration and practical innovation across multiple scientific domains.

This talk will also introduce new conjectures in deformation theory and present key breakthroughs in representation theory, solving long-standing open problems. These contributions provide deeper insights into the structure of Lie groups and their applications, paving the way for further discoveries in mathematics and beyond.

Ali Baklouti is a Full Professor of Mathematics at the University of Sfax (Tunisia). He earned his Ph.D. in Mathematics from the University of Metz, France, in 1995. He served as Vice-President of the University of Sfax from 2020 to 2024 and held the position of President of the Tunisian Mathematical Society for two consecutive terms (April 2016–March 2022). Since January 2012, he has been the Deputy Director of the Mediterranean Institute of Mathematical Sciences, an institution he co-founded that same year. In December 2016, he was elected as a permanent member of the Tunisian Academy of Sciences, Letters, and Arts. He currently serves as a senior expert in research and education at the Erasmus+ office of Tunisia, in collaboration with the European Commission. He has received numerous prestigious awards, including the AMU-PaCOM 2022 Award and Medal, Category A in Mathematics, and the Order of Merit for Education and Teaching by the President of the Republic of Tunisia.

Attending the event

• The event is free to join, please register via Eventbrite for a ticket
• Live subtitles will be available in-person and virtually

Attending in person

• This lecture can be attended in person at the Royal Society
• Doors will open to the public at 6.00pm BST

Find travel and accessibility information on our website.

Attending online

• The lecture will also be livestreamed here and on the Royal Society YouTube channel
• You can take part in the live Q&A via Slido
• This event will be recorded (including the live Q&A) and the recording will be available on YouTube soon after the event

For all enquiries, please contact awards@royalsociety.org.