Pavel Safronov
Elinor Flavell has written the following article as part of our series of Academic Interviews; featuring Pavel Safronov!
Some people know from a young age that they will become mathematicians, while others discover a love for maths in their last few years of school and decide to pursue it in university. For Pavel Safronov it wasn’t until his master’s degree that he decided that he wanted to be a mathematician.
Safronov has always had an interest in maths. At fourteen he read a book which introduced him to the subject of prime numbers which really intrigued him, but, at the time, he was training to become a professional classical pianist. However, things began to change as he got towards the end of his school years. His Grandmother was an astronomy teacher and she helped him to explore the questions and thoughts about the world. This influenced him in his decision to study physics at St Petersburg for his undergraduate degree. Here, Safronov became interested in String Theory (the idea that the universe is made up of tiny vibrating strings) and so went to the University of Texas for a master’s degree. He really enjoyed the more informal environment in Texas, which allowed greater communication between the school of physics and the school of maths. It was at this point that he realised that he actually enjoyed maths more and so moved into the study of algebraic geometry (which uses abstract algebraic techniques to solve geometrical problems). It is very impressive to change fields at such a high level, but his university in St Petersburg had given him a strong mathematical background and by talking to professors and lecturers, and reading books they recommended, he was able to reach the level of understanding he needed to pursue maths.
After Texas, Safronov travelled round and worked at many institutions in Europe. He spent two years in Oxford for a post-doc and then a semester at the Max Planck Institute for Mathematics (MPIM) in Bonn. He liked Bonn, as it was here that he met several friends who worked in adjacent fields and allowed him to see connections in maths. However, due to most members of staff being visitors he found it quite intense and hard to get work done. It was in Bonn that he made another change in the focus of his studies, moving away from algebraic geometry towards mathematical physics, which still makes up a large part of his current research. From there he spent a short time in Geneva and then Zurich before coming to Edinburgh in 2020. He is very happy to be in one place for a little longer, as he found moving countries, every semester or so, made it hard to have simple things such as pots and pans!
Today, Safronov lecturers a few courses and has said that he is really enjoying the return to face-to-face teaching, as he finds it easier to see if the students actually understand what he has taught them. Indeed, his advice for students is to go and question your lecturers, ask for book recommendations and engage with everything the university has to offer, your lecturer is excited about their research and if you are also excited, they’ll want to share it with you. Currently, he spends about half of his time researching and half of his time teaching. He is mainly interested in topological quantum field theories, which manages to combine all his interests of mathematical physics, algebraic geometry, and category theory (which describes items by their relationship with other items). There have been some exciting developments in this field recently with several different people trying to enrich mathematical objects with more structure. However, what Safronov is personally excited about is trying to show how analytical tools used in the wider field of maths can actually be applied here.
Outside of maths Safronov stills plays the piano in his free time and is excellent (if you google his name, you can hear him playing some pieces). He also enjoys hiking and has recently taken up cycling with both activities being easily available in Scotland. For him, these allow him to switch off from the maths in his daily life and just really engage with nature, giving him a fresh start when he returns to his work.
Although Safronov discovered maths relatively late in his life, he is a great example of how maths is so much more than just the courses you take in university. His previous education allows him to show connections between maths and physics and further generalise what is going on, which to be honest is all mathematicians really want to do.