Walter Andrs Pez Gaviria

Research Statement

I started my undergraduate studies with a complete focus in science, specifically Chemistry and
Physics. During the first years in Chemistry, I deepened in Quantum Chemistry. In spite of my
disappointment (due to my early immature view of science) about the strong computational focus
of the area and the limits of science, that subject left an indelible mark in my interests and my view
of the subject-object relation. So, I went to Mathematics looking for a more artistic and humanistic
path, and indeed found one, but also reconciled with science and began to understand from many
different perspectives what I had learned up to that moment.
My main area of investigation in mathematics is Mathematical Logic. Specifically: Model Theory,
Logic of Sheaves of Structures, Categorical logic and Non-classical logics. In my undergraduate
thesis, I developed a slight generalization of Caicedos logic of sheaves of structures 1 and its generic
model theorem. Im interested in understanding some constructions in mathematics as generic
models of sheaves of structures (see chapter 2 of my undergraduate thesis) and in studying the
logical properties of some abelian categories, especially Grothendieck categories, and its relations
with topoi (see chapters 3 and 5 of my MSc thesis).
Mathematics and mathematical logic (Gdel, Tarski, Lawvere, Shelah, Caicedo) led me naturally into
Philosophy. I began studying Ancient Philosophy and Metaphysics a couple of years ago. During the
last year Ive been concentrated in Modern Philosophy (Descartes, Hume, Kant and Hegel) and the
Philosophy of Mathematics la Lautmann 2 and Zalamea. 3
Im also interested in Political Philosophy (Arendts critique of the relation between philosophy and
politics) and Economics. Im actually in a research project at the Faculty of Economic Sciences of the
National University of Colombia, in which Ive proposed, based on fuzzy logic, a procedure for
identifying key sectors demanding a determined input sector, or sectors, in the Input-Output Matrix,
of Leontiefs model. 4 This procedure will be applied to find key sectors demanding nonrenewable
resources. As a secondary object, the Input-Output Model analysis round by round was extended to
sector to sector, and I proved that original model can be reconstructed from the later one. All this
will be appearing in two papers in construction.

http://www.accefyn.org.co/revista/Vol_19/74/569-586.pdf
Lautmann, A. (2011). Ensayos sobre la dialctica, estructura y unidad de las matemticas contemporneas.
Bogot: Universidad Nacional de Colombia. Facultad de Ciencias Humanas.
3
Zalamea, F. (2009). Filosofa sinttica de las matemticas contemporneas. Bogot: Universidad Nacional
de Colombia.
4
Leontief, W. (1936). Quantitative Input and Output Relations in the Economic System of the United States.
Review of Economics and Statistics , 105-125. Miller, R. E., & Blair, P. D. (2009). Input-Output Analysis:
Foundations and Extensions. New York: Cambridge University Press.
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