IMPA researcher introduces undergraduates to Ramsey Theory
Marcelo Campos was the guest at the academic seminar on Wednesday (26)
27/3/2025
IMPA researcher Marcelo Soares Campos was the guest mathematician at the IMPA Tech academic seminar on Wednesday (26). To a classroom full of students interested in the experience of the researcher, who holds a master’s and doctorate from the institute, Campos gave a brief introduction to Ramsey Theory, a subfield of Combinatorics that studies the existence of order in the midst of chaos.
In 2023, the mathematician, who has been dedicated to combinatorics since his school days, achieved the most significant breakthrough in Ramsey’s Theorem in 88 years. During the IMPA Summer Program, Campos, Robert Morris (IMPA), Simon Griffiths (PUC-Rio) and Julian Sahasrabudhe (Cambridge) came up with a new algorithm capable of improving the upper limit of the Theorem.
“Back then, researchers found an algorithm that could be run on any network to find order. What we did was make this algorithm more efficient. It’s a bit better and can find subgroups more quickly,” Campos explained.
At the seminar, the IMPA researcher, as well as giving an introduction to the area, showed some algorithms in which it is possible to find structure and some in which it is difficult to find it.
The activity was organized by IMPA Tech professor Ueverton Souza, who highlighted the researcher’s academic success when introducing him. “The choice of Marcelo was motivated mainly by his excellent work and the relationship with the discipline of Discrete Mathematics, which involves combinatorics and graphs.”
Last year, Marcelo Campos received the CAPES Thesis Award 2024 in the area of Mathematics/Probability and Statistics for his work during his doctorate, which he defended at IMPA in 2023. Titled “Random Matrices, Additive Combinatorics, and Convex Geometry”, the thesis, supervised by IMPA researcher Robert Morris, has eight chapters and each one deals with a problem that covers the sub-areas highlighted in the title.
Undergraduate student Yasmin Monteiro enjoyed Campos’ explanation and was inspired by the researcher’s career. “I’d heard of graphs before, but never with such theoretical and mathematical depth. It seems like a very interesting area. Learning about the work carried out at IMPA is very inspiring. We feel like this is a dream that we can achieve,” she said.
For student Arthur Zaneti, the seminars are an opportunity to get closer to IMPA’s day-to-day work. “I’ve already had a bit of contact with Ramsey Theory in my undergraduate classes, but being able to listen to the researchers’ presentations is very interesting. I really enjoyed it!”
Wednesday’s seminar also marked Marcelo Campos’ first visit to Port Maravalley, and he was delighted with the structure of the degree. “I think IMPA Tech is super cool. The students here have the main quality for success in mathematics, which is motivation. It’s great to have this space that encourages young people and makes it possible to collaborate with people from all over the country. It’s essential to enjoy the process and be willing to learn, without putting pressure on your studies,” he said.
Read more: Data science hackathon attracts IMPA Tech students
Read more: Effective and assertive communication is the theme of a lecture at IMPA Tech
