AMSI grant recipient profile: Tsun Ho Anson Chung

 

Give me a quick overview of the type of mathematics you are studying, and/or the aims of your research and its potential applications/outcomes (how you would explain your work and studies to friends who don’t study maths?

I am studying geometric flows. It combines concepts from differential geometry and theory of partial differential equations to describe an evolution of geometric objects over time. Imagine a rubber band or a surface deforming into a sphere, this can be thought of as the position of each point moving along time with the movement governed by an equation. Geometric flows have many applications in natural sciences. One of the most famous applications is related to blackholes and their singularities. There are also uses in material science and biology. The most important part is to understand their singularities, that is when does the deformation stop and cannot be continued.

How did you get into the mathematical sciences? Was there someone or something that inspired you to this field?

I have always been interested in mathematics since primary school. In secondary school, my interest grew deeper as I realised mathematics is the language of natural sciences and can be used to describe our daily world. At the end it was the absoluteness of mathematics that made me decide to pursue a pure mathematics degree in my undergraduate studies.

Winter School is designed to give students a deeper understanding of their area of research and expose them to others working in different fields/industries. Tell me about your Winter School experience. What was the most valuable part of the program for you?

The Winter School was a 2-week intensive program to learn about special topics with lectures given by different leading researchers around the world. After each day, there is an hour of tutorials for hands-on exercises to consolidate some basic concepts from the lectures. This is quite an interesting time as it encourages discussions with fellow students.

What was your main take away/s from AMSI Winter School? Something you learnt? A connection you made? Do you have new ideas for your work/research or see it in a new light?

The lectures provided an easy way to approach these advance research topics. Most research topics requires one to go through vast amounts of literature to grasp the general landscape. For example, Prof. Böhm’s lectures provide a clear summary to research questions cohomogeneity one Einstein manifolds, as well as more detailed surveys on different aspects. Even though not explicitly related to my research, lectures by Prof. Park and Prof. Clutterbuck inspires me to seek seemingly more distant but related techniques to solve my current problems.

What surprised you most about Winter School?

I was surprised about how social everyone is. There were students of all levels with vastly different research interests attending the Winter School. Yet everyone was willing to explain their interests in detail and give insight into each other’s questions. There were also many pleasant conversations over the many breakfasts and dinners, as well as sightseeing together in Brisbane.

What is the importance of in-person communication at an event like Winter School?

It is very important to communicate face-to-face. Striking up conversations whether it is related to mathematics or not is far easier in-person compared to being in a virtual online meeting. When presenting one’s work, it is also more engaging to have some real audience in the room to gauge the reaction and pace the presentation accordingly.

You received a grant to attend AMSI Winter School. How important was this in terms of your ability to attend, fully participate in the program and meet others studying in similar fields?

The grant made attending the AMSI Winter School much easier. The cost of staying near UQ for 2 weeks is prohibitive without a grant. To put it directly, if I had not received a grant, I would not have attended the School in-person. This means I would have lost the opportunity to meet different students and researchers in different parts of Australia and other countries. The importance of the grant cannot be overstated.

What advice would you give to someone who is considering applying for Winter School? How would you describe the conference to them?

Keeping an open mind is the most important trait to have during the conference. This not only gives one a reason to focus during the lectures over the two weeks but also allows for richer conversations with other fellow students related to mathematics or just different cultures from different countries. Expect lots of casual chatting over morning and afternoon tea as the Winter School is not only about mathematics, but also about socialising with other mathematicians.

Tell us about a moment that changed a preconceived idea about your field?

Based on the work on Perelman in Ricci flow, the discovery of a monotone formula by Huisken leading to classification of fast and slow forming singularities and the implementation of surgeries at singular times to continue the flow as an important moment that changed the preconceived idea that singularities are non-resolvable. This has led to many questions related to rigidity of self-similar solutions and how can one detect which type of singularities to rule out.

Where do you want the mathematical sciences to take you? Where do you see yourself in five, ten years time?

It is very difficult to predict what will happen next year, let alone 5-10 years into the future. Hopefully after 3 years, I can graduate with a PhD in hand. My goal will be to secure a post-doctoral fellowship so I can further my research in extrinsic geometric flows.

Any other feedback/comments you would like to provide on the travel grant or AMSI Winter School?

I thank AMSI again for organising the Winter School and for providing the travel grant.