Đorđe Baralić
Mathematical Institute SANU, Serbia
Đorđe Baralić is a mathematician from Serbia who works on toric topology. An interesting problem here is the classification of simple polytopes that can appear as the orbit spaces of some quasitoric manifolds. In a sense, the task here is to find structure among these abstract objects.
the artwork
Квазиторусна 4-многострукост
Serbian- Quasitoric 4-manifold - 2019 - digital collage
audio commentary
The idea was born during the 7th Heidelberg Laureate Forum. I had already defended my PhD 6 years earlier, and I sent a diagram from my PhD thesis to Demian. It was a nice illustration of a potential way to visualize a quasitoric manifold as some fibre bundle of the orbit map. Abstract objects in mathematics often require some geometric intuition. I was about to make a pop art version of that image, assigning the mathematical objects to everyday kitchen objects, exploiting the tray as a polygon and the cups and donuts as tori. Indeed, I wanted something funny to for my favorite classes on manifolds.
Đorđe Baralić
paths to mathematics - the artist's audio commentary
Đorđe, What is the first mathematics you remember doing yourself?
Đorđe, What drove you into doing mathematcis?
Đorđe, Why do you do mathematics?
Đorđe, In what moments do you struggle in science?
Mathematics in Serbian Culture
Pirot kilim is one of Serbia’s national symbols, named after the city with a long tradition of producing woollen kilims decorated with diverse ornaments. One of the most famous patterns on a kilim is Rašić’s pattern, consisting of concentric rhomboids that end at the edges along the axis with trapezoidal shapes filled with “devil’s knees” motifs. In the center there is a soveljka, and around it are sofrice. The form is geometric, with precise proportions and many details. The pattern has the most colors, a great variety of shades and transitions, which makes its production very difficult.
Đorđe Baralić
