Man of extremes From the fastest sports records to maximum insurance coverage: John Einmahl focuses on extreme values. In doing so, he himself combines two extremes, namely fundamental mathematics and practice-based research.
20 | New Scientist | Tilburg University Economics and Management | Research Special
By Yannick Fritschy
W
hat is the highest we can achieve? What is the worst thing that can happen to us? We want to know what the extreme possibilities are in all kinds of situations. But these boundaries are not always easy to define. Professor John Einmahl specializes in research into extreme values. This is a branch of mathematical statistics, an applied area of mathematics. “Actually, I focus on fundamental math. 80 to 90 percent of the time I’m proving theorems to understand how something works,” he says. At the Faculty of Economics, Einmahl’s work is, therefore, classed as highly theo retical. But for mathematicians, it is very practical. Because research into extreme values has many applications, from the world record for the 100-meter sprint to insurance damage in the event of a largescale catastrophe.
