Jacob Palis

Jacob Palis
Born(1940-03-15)15 March 1940
Died7 May 2025(2025-05-07) (aged 85)
Alma materUniversity of California, Berkeley
Federal University of Rio de Janeiro
Known forDynamical systems
Chaos theory
Palis' conjectures
AwardsPremio México de Ciencia y Tecnología (2000)
Balzan Prize (2010)
Abdus Salam Medal (2015)
Scientific career
FieldsMathematics
InstitutionsInstituto Nacional de Matemática Pura e Aplicada
Doctoral advisorStephen Smale
Doctoral studentsArtur Oscar Lopes
Ricardo Mañé
Welington de Melo
Carlos Gustavo Moreira
Enrique Pujals
Marcelo Viana

Jacob Palis Jr. (15 March 1940 – 7 May 2025) was a Brazilian mathematician and professor. Palis's research interests were mainly dynamical systems and differential equations. Some themes are global stability and hyperbolicity, bifurcations, attractors and chaotic systems. He proposed the Palis' conjectures (which form the Palis' program), which influenced the development of the theory of dynamical systems, and also of its applications to other sciences. He was a world leader in chaos theory research. Palis was an influential figure in the development of mathematics in Brazil.