Stefanos Aretakis
The Greek mathematician who made history with the “Aretakis Instability”
Stefanos Aretakis was born in 1987 in Athens and grew up in Pagrati. From an early age he showed an exceptional aptitude for mathematics and soon proved that he was not just talented, but a real phenomenon.
He studied at the University of Patras, where he completed his studies in just 1.5 years with honors. He then continued at the University of Cambridge, where even before completing his doctorate he had made important scientific discoveries.
Today he is an Associate Professor of Mathematics at the University of Toronto and is considered one of the leading young mathematicians in the world.
The great discovery
Aretakis is involved in the mathematical analysis of General Relativity and mainly in the study of black holes. His most important contribution is the proof of the so-called “Aretakis Instability”:
In special, extreme black holes (with maximum spin or electric charge), he discovered that they are not as stable as we thought. On the contrary, certain quantities inside them never fade away and even become infinite in time.
In simple terms, he proved that these black holes have an internal “fragility”, which changes the way we understand the stability of space-time.
International awards
For his work, he has been honored with important awards and recognitions:
Papastratos Prize of the Academy of Athens (2016)
IUPAP Young Scientist Prize in Mathematical Physics (2021)
Scholarships from the Sloan Foundation, NSF (USA), NSERC (Canada)
A Greek who makes us proud
Stefanos Aretakis is living proof that talent, hard work and a passion for knowledge can bring a young man from Pangrati to the center of the global scientific community.
A Greek who has left his mark on the universe — with his name engraved on a theorem that will be discussed for years.
