Michel Demazure
Michel Demazure is a French mathematician whose work connects algebraic geometry with computer vision. He studied at the École normale supérieure and Princeton, worked with Alexandre Grothendieck on group schemes, and earned his doctorate in 1965. At Strasbourg, Orsay and École Polytechnique, he taught and supervised doctoral students; his publications on group schemes, algebraic groups and the Cremona group helped shape toric-variety research. His 1988 work on image reconstruction led to the Kruppa–Demazure theorem, which gives ten possible scenes behind two images of five points. He led the Société Mathématique de France and two science museums, and he is an honorary member of S.O.S Amitié's board, a role he took in 2024.
Timeline
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1955–1965
Studies and group schemes
He studies at the École normale supérieure from 1955 to 1959 and at Princeton in 1959–1960. With Alexandre Grothendieck, he runs and edits the Séminaire de Géométrie Algébrique on group schemes at the Institut des Hautes Études Scientifiques from 1962 to 1964, then earns a doctorate at the Université de Paris in 1965 with a dissertation on reductive group schemes.
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1964–1999
Professorships and doctoral students
He teaches at Strasbourg from 1964 to 1966, Paris-Sud in Orsay from 1966 to 1976, and École Polytechnique in Palaiseau from 1976 to 1999. From about 1965 to 1985, he is a core member of Bourbaki; at École Polytechnique, he supervises Bernard Mourrain in 1991 and Pierre-Vincent Koseleff in 1993.
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1966
The Peccot Prize
He receives the Collège de France's Peccot Prize in 1966.
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1970
SGA 3 and group schemes
With Grothendieck, he publishes the three SGA 3 volumes on group schemes through Springer in 1970. In SGA 3, he defines the root datum, and Masson publishes his Groupes algébriques, Tome I with Pierre Gabriel.
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1970
Subgroups of the Cremona group
In 1970, he publishes a paper on subgroups of the Cremona group that is later recognized as the beginning of toric-variety research.
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1988
The Kruppa–Demazure theorem
He writes the INRIA report Sur deux problèmes de reconstruction in 1988, applying algebraic geometry to image reconstruction in computer vision. The Kruppa–Demazure theorem shows that two images of five points viewed from cameras with known focal lengths can come from ten different scenes; Erwin Kruppa narrows the count to eleven, and Demazure gives the first complete solution.
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1988–2002
Leading society and museums
He is president of the Société Mathématique de France in 1988, directs the Palais de la Découverte in Paris from 1991 to 1998, and chairs the Géode and Cité des Sciences et de l'Industrie in La Villette from 1998 to 2002.
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Since 2024
Honorary member at S.O.S Amitié
Since 2024, he is an honorary member of the board of directors of S.O.S Amitié.
Career
- From 2024S.O.S AmitiéHonorary Board Member
- 1998–2002Cité des Sciences et de l'IndustrieChair
- 1998–2002La GéodeChair
- 1991–1998Palais de la DécouverteDirector
- 1988Société Mathématique de FrancePresident
- 1976–1999École PolytechniqueProfessor
- 1966–1976Université Paris-SudProfessor
- 1964–1966University of Strasbourg
- 1962–1964Institute of Advanced Scientific StudiesSeminar Organizer and Editor
Education
- 1965University of ParisDoctorate
- 1960Princeton University
- From 1955École Normale Supérieure
Most-cited works
Colleagues
Sources and credits
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