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Dr Kevin Coulembier is like a cold case detective.

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He’s attracted to solving mathematical mysteries that others have failed to crack.

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“Well, typically to solve any problem, you need patience and determination.

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Just because a problem remains unsolved for years,

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it doesn't mean that our ideas and understanding around it have remained static for all that time."

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So, in almost forensic fashion,

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he studies each piece of new mathematical evidence.

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And every so often, there’s a breakthrough.

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"The moment you make an important discovery,

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I would describe as really unconfined joy."

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One such moment came when he answered a fundamental question in representation theory.

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If you’ve ever solved a Rubik’s cube,

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you’ve probably used representation theory.

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It essentially deals with symmetry in an abstract way.

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The problem that Dr Coulembier solved was left open 

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in the influential work of legendary mathematician Pierre Deligne

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and gave us a new way to detect the presence of a classical type of symmetry,

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known as an affine group scheme.

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The scheme allows us to exploit the symmetry of complex mathematical structures

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and use algebraic computation to study them.

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"Having these computer visualisations of symmetries really helps to understand them. 

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In most ways, mathematics should be thought of as a certain language."

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That language helps drive endless applications. 

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"I think the tangible applications of research in pure mathematics 

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really have to be seen in the long term. 

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Every time you would open a picture on a phone, 

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one of the key mathematical insights you use there was developed in the thick of the French Revolution."

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Originally from Belgium,

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Dr Columbier is now regarded as one of the fastest-rising stars of pure mathematics in Australia.

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"My passion for mathematics really derives from the sheer beauty of mathematics.

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The nice patterns, the astonishing connections that can exist,

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is something which I find breathtakingly beautiful."

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His long list of achievements at such an early stage of his career 

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make him a worthy recipient of the Christopher Heyde Medal.

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But as far as Dr Coulembier’s research is concerned,

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there are many more achievements to come.

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"If you solve one mathematical problem, you've created three new ones in the process.

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Some of them do keep me up at night. Yes."