Le séminaire de mathématiques : un lieu d’échanges défini par ses acteurs. Incursion dans la vie collective des mathématiques autour de Laurent Schwartz (1915-2002)

Abstract

When Schwartz entered the École Normale Supérieure in 1934, only two mathematics seminars existed in Paris—the international tribune “séminaire Hadamard”, and the closed “séminaire Julia”. By 1968, there were around thirty mathematical seminars that took place each week in Paris. It is difficult to grasp the “mathematical seminar” as an object in historical terms because it is an oral form and thus few traces remain. Schwartz can be considered as a good witness—observer and actor—to this period in order to question the structuring role that mathematical seminars play in the collective life of mathematics. Schwartz saw how the development of the mathematical seminar in France evolved and personally contributed to constructing its role in the life of mathematics. He took part in many seminars where he played different roles: participant, speaker, organizer or creator. The analysis of the different roles played by Schwartz will allow us to describe the forms of exchanges made possible by mathematical seminars.