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Olivier Debarre

Olivier Debarre is a mathematics topic covered in the lgStudy science library. This page brings together a partial reference excerpt, illustrations, worked examples, real-world applications and a short study plan, so you can understand Olivier Debarre rather than just read about it. In short: Olivier Debarre (born 1959) is a French mathematician who specializes in complex algebraic geometry. From 1977 to 1981, Olivier Debarre attended the École Normale Supérieure (ENS) and he studied under Phillip Griffiths at Harvard University in 1981–1982.

Olivier Debarre — main illustration
Olivier Debarre — illustration

Key takeaways

  • Olivier Debarre belongs to mathematics; place it in that map before memorising details.
  • Learn the definition first, then one example that makes the definition concrete.
  • Connect Olivier Debarre to a quantity you can measure, compute or draw — that is where exam questions come from.
  • Reproduce the core statement of Olivier Debarre from memory before moving on to harder problems.

Reference excerpt

Olivier Debarre (born 1959) is a French mathematician who specializes in complex algebraic geometry.

From 1977 to 1981, Olivier Debarre attended the École Normale Supérieure (ENS) and he studied under Phillip Griffiths at Harvard University in 1981–1982. In 1987, he received his Ph.D. in a two-part thesis from the University of Paris XI. His "Thèse d´Etat", under Arnaud Beauville, was entitled Variétés de Prym, conjecture de la trisécante et ensembles d'Andreotti et Mayer and his "Seconde Thèse", under Michael Robert Herman, was entitled Conjugaison analytique à des rotations des difféomorphismes analytiques du cercle. From 1982 to 1987, Debarre was a scientific researcher at the Centre national de la recherche scientifique (CNRS). He then moved to the United States, and was hired as an associate professor at the University of Iowa, where he taught from 1991 to 1994. Back in France in 1995, he became a professor at the University of Strasbourg, where he stayed until 2008. Since 2008, he has been teaching both at the University of Paris VII and at the École Normale Supérieure, where in 2009–2010 he was chair of the faculty. In addition, he was a part-time professor at the École Polytechnique from 1997 to 2001. He was a visiting professor in 1999 at Harvard, in 2004 at the University of Michigan, in 2007 at the National University of Taiwan, in 2008 at the Korean Institute for Advanced Study, in 2008 at the Fudan University in Shanghai, and in 2009 at the Mathematical Sciences Research Institute (MSRI), in Berkeley, California. From 1999 to 2004 he was a junior member of the Institut Universitaire de France. His areas of research include the Schottky problem, problems of Torelli type, Fano varieties, and Prym varieties. Debarre has been an editor for the Mathematische Zeitschrift since 2005, and managing editor from 2007 to 2020. He was editor of the series Astérisque of the Société Mathématique de France from 1999 to 2009, and for the Annales Scientifiques de l'École Normale Supérieure in 2010–2011.

Selected publications Complex Tori and Abelian Varieties. AMS. 2005. ISBN 9780821831656. Higher dimensional algebraic geometry. Springer Verlag, Universitext. 2001. ISBN 9780387952277. Debarre, Olivier (1989). "Le théorème de Torelli pour les intersections de trois quadriques". Inventiones Mathematicae. 95 (3): 507–528. Bibcode:1989InMat..95..507D. doi:10.1007/bf01393887. S2CID 120481990. The Schottky Problem: An Update, in Herbert Clemens, János Kollár (editors) Current Topics in Complex Algebraic Geometry, MSRI Publications 28, Cambridge University Press, 1995, 57–64. Variétés de Fano (PDF). Séminaire Bourbaki No. 827, 1996/97.

References

Illustrations

Olivier Debarre: Olivier Debarre at Oberwolfach in 2012
Olivier Debarre at Oberwolfach in 2012

Worked examples

Example 1 — a first encounter with Olivier Debarre

Start with the simplest possible case. Write down what Olivier Debarre claims or describes in one sentence, then invent the smallest concrete situation in which that sentence is true. In mathematics, the smallest case is usually a single object, a single equation or a single measurement. Check that every symbol or term in your sentence has a meaning in that case.

Example 2 — changing one variable

Take the situation from Example 1 and change exactly one quantity: double it, halve it, or set it to zero. Predict what should happen to Olivier Debarre before you calculate. Comparing your prediction with the result is the fastest way to find out whether you understand the idea or only the words.

Example 3 — an exam-style question

Typical questions about Olivier Debarre ask you to (a) state it precisely, (b) apply it to given data, and (c) explain a limitation. Practise writing all three answers in under five minutes; the third part is what separates a full-mark answer from an average one.

Applications of Olivier Debarre

In research
Olivier Debarre appears in mathematics research whenever the underlying quantities have to be modelled precisely. Papers usually cite it as a starting assumption and then explore where it breaks down.
In technology and industry
Engineering practice reuses Olivier Debarre in design rules, simulations and safety margins. Knowing the idea lets you read a specification sheet and understand why the numbers look the way they do.
In the classroom
Olivier Debarre is common in secondary-school and first-year university syllabi. It links to neighbouring topics 1959 births, 20th-century French mathematicians, 21st-century French mathematicians, so understanding it makes those chapters shorter.
In everyday life
Look for Olivier Debarre outside the textbook — in sport, cooking, traffic, electronics or the sky above you. An example you found yourself is remembered far longer than one you were given.
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How to study Olivier Debarre in 20 minutes

  1. Read the reference excerpt below once, without taking notes.
  2. Close the page and write down what Olivier Debarre means in your own words.
  3. Compare your version with the excerpt and mark what you missed.
  4. Work through the three examples above with pen and paper.
  5. Explain Olivier Debarre out loud to somebody else — or to Teacher Smith in the lgStudy chat.

Frequently asked questions

What is Olivier Debarre in simple terms?

Olivier Debarre (born 1959) is a French mathematician who specializes in complex algebraic geometry. From 1977 to 1981, Olivier Debarre attended the École Normale Supérieure (ENS) and he studied under Phillip Griffiths at Harvard University in 1981–1982.

Why does Olivier Debarre matter?

Because it connects several mathematics ideas at once: it gives you a definition you can apply, a quantity you can calculate, and a way to check whether a result is plausible.

How should I study Olivier Debarre?

Read the excerpt, restate it from memory, then work through the examples and applications listed on this page. The five-step study plan above takes about twenty minutes.

What does this page cover?

It gives you a compact reference excerpt plus original lgStudy explanations, examples, applications and study material on Olivier Debarre.

Tags

  • 1959 births
  • 20th-century French mathematicians
  • 21st-century French mathematicians
  • Academic staff of the University of Paris
  • Academic staff of the École normale supérieure (Paris)
  • Algebraic geometers
  • French academic journal editors
  • Living people
  • University of Paris alumni
  • École normale supérieure (Paris) alumni

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