The Institute for Advanced Studies (IAS) – UM6P had the pleasure of hosting Prof. Ahmed Zeriahi, internationally renowned mathematician and Professor Emeritus at the Institut de Mathématiques de Toulouse, currently a Guest Scholar at the IAS.

Entitled From the Complex Plane to Riemann Surfaces: A Journey Through the History of Geometry, the seminar was held at Salle Laâyoune on the UM6P Campus Benguerir. The lecture offered a historical and conceptual immersion into the foundations of modern geometry, guiding the audience from Euclid’s Elements to the emergence of non-Euclidean geometries.

Prof. Zeriahi highlighted the central role of Riemann surfaces in the development of complex geometry and traced subsequent advances toward higher-dimensional settings, notably Kähler manifolds. The presentation also addressed the celebrated Calabi conjecture and its landmark resolution by Shing-Tung Yau, emphasizing the deep connections between topology, geometry, and theoretical physics.

Through a rigorous yet pedagogical approach, the seminar illuminated fundamental links between geometry, topology, and complex analysis, notably through the Riemann–Koebe–Poincaré Uniformization Theorem on the classification of Riemann surfaces. The session sparked rich and stimulating exchanges, reflecting the vitality of academic dialogue and the high level of research activity within the UM6P community.

The IAS warmly thanks Prof. Ahmed Zeriahi and all participants for contributing to this insightful and engaging scientific encounter.