Vivette Girault facts for kids
Vivette Girault, born in 1943, is a brilliant French mathematician. She is an expert in special types of math that help computers solve complex problems, like how fluids move. She worked at a famous university in France, the Pierre and Marie Curie University.
Early Life and Education
Vivette Girault was born in Nice, France. She went to high school far away in Caracas, Venezuela. Later, she earned her first university degree from McGill University in Montreal, Canada. After her studies in Canada, Vivette Girault returned to France. There, she focused on learning more about numerical analysis. She joined the math department at the University of Paris. This university later became known as Pierre and Marie Curie University (UPMC). Today, it is called Sorbonne Université. Vivette Girault is now a professor emerita at Sorbonne Université. This means she is a retired professor who still holds an honored title.
Contributions to Mathematics
Vivette Girault is known for her work in several important areas of mathematics. These include:
- Numerical analysis: This is about using computers to solve math problems that are too hard for people to solve by hand.
- Finite element methods: This is a powerful way to solve engineering and physics problems. It breaks down big, complex problems into many smaller, simpler parts.
- Computational fluid dynamics: This field uses computers to study how liquids and gases move. For example, it can help design airplanes or predict weather patterns.
From 2006 to 2017, Vivette Girault was part of the team that reviewed articles for a major math journal. This journal is called Mathematics of Computation and is published by the American Mathematical Society.
Awards and Recognition
In 2021, Vivette Girault received a very special honor. The Association for Women in Mathematics (AWM) and the Society for Industrial and Applied Mathematics (SIAM) chose her. She was named the AWM-SIAM Sonia Kovalevsky Lecturer. This award celebrates outstanding women in mathematics. As part of this honor, she gave a special lecture. The lecture was titled "From linear poroelasticity to nonlinear implicit elastic and related models." She received her award at the SIAM annual meeting in Spokane, Washington, in July 2021.
