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Abel Prize

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The Abel Prize
Descriptionoutstanding scientific work in the field of mathematics.
CountryNorway
Presented byNorwegian Academy of Science and Letters
First awarded2003
Websiteabelprize.no

The Abel Prize is an international prize presented annually by the King of Norway to one or more outstanding mathematicians. The prize is named after Norwegian mathematician Niels Henrik Abel (1802–1829). It has often been described as the "mathematician's Nobel prize"[1][2][3][4][5][6] and is among the most prestigious awards in mathematics. It comes with a monetary award of six million kroner, which is approx. (2012) 1.06 million US dollars.

The Norwegian Academy of Science and Letters annually declares the winner of the Abel Prize after selection by a committee of five international mathematicians. The committee is headed by Ragni Piene. The International Mathematical Union and the European Mathematical Society nominate members of the Abel Committee.[7] The amount of money that comes with the prize is usually close to US$ 1 million, similar to the Nobel Prizes, which are awarded in Sweden and Norway and do not have a category for mathematics. Norway gave the prize an initial funding of NOK 200,000,000 (about US$23,000,000) in 2001.

The prize board has also established an Abel symposium, administered by the Norwegian Mathematical Society.

The award ceremony takes place in the Atrium of the University of Oslo Faculty of Law, where the Nobel Peace Prize was formerly awarded (1947–1989).

History

The prize was first proposed to be part of the 1902 celebration of 100th anniversary of Abel's birth.[8] In 1899, shortly before his death, Sophus Lie proposed establishing an Abel Prize when he learned that Alfred Nobel's plans for annual prizes, made known in 1897, would not include a prize in mathematics. King Oscar II was willing to finance a mathematics prize in Abel's name, and the mathematicians Ludwig Sylow and Carl Størmer drew up statutes and rules for the proposed prize. However, Lie's influence waned after his death, and the dissolution of the Union between Sweden and Norway in 1905 ended the first attempt to create the Abel Prize.

In 2001, after interest in the prize had risen, a working group was formed to develop a proposal, which was presented to the prime minister of Norway in May. In August 2001, the Norwegian government announced that the prize would be awarded beginning in 2002, the two-hundredth anniversary of Abel's birth. The first prize was actually awarded in 2003.

A book series recently commenced, with one volume every five years, will present the Abel Prize laureates and their research. The first volume[9] covers the years 2003–2007.

Laureates

Year Laureate(s) Institution Citation
2003 Jean-Pierre Serre Collège de France “for playing a key role in shaping the modern form of many parts of mathematics, including topology, algebraic geometry and number theory”
2004 Michael F. Atiyah
Isadore M. Singer 		University of Edinburgh
MIT 		“for their discovery and proof of the index theorem, bringing together topology, geometry and analysis, and their outstanding role in building new bridges between mathematics and theoretical physics”
2005 Peter D. Lax Courant Institute, NYU “for his groundbreaking contributions to the theory and application of partial differential equations and to the computation of their solutions”
2006 Lennart Carleson Kungliga Tekniska Högskolan “for his profound and seminal contributions to harmonic analysis and the theory of smooth dynamical systems”
2007 S. R. Srinivasa Varadhan Courant Institute, NYU “for his fundamental contributions to probability theory and in particular for creating a unified theory of large deviation”
2008 John G. Thompson
Jacques Tits 		University of Florida
Collège de France 		“for their profound achievements in algebra and in particular for shaping modern group theory”
2009 Mikhail Gromov IHÉS
Courant Institute, NYU 		“for his revolutionary contributions to geometry”
2010 John T. Tate UT Austin “for his vast and lasting impact on the theory of numbers”
2011 John Milnor Stony Brook University “for pioneering discoveries in topology, geometry, and algebra”
2012 Endre Szemerédi[10] Alfréd Rényi Institute
and Rutgers University 		“for his fundamental contributions to discrete mathematics and theoretical computer science, and in recognition of the profound and lasting impact of these contributions on additive number theory and ergodic theory”[11]

See also

References

  1. ^ Cipra, Barry (2009-03-26). "Russian Mathematician Wins Abel Prize". Science. Archived from the original on 29 March 2009. Retrieved 2009-03-29. {{cite web}}: Unknown parameter |deadurl= ignored (|url-status= suggested) (help)
  2. ^ Geometer wins maths 'Nobel', nature.com, March 2009.
  3. ^ El revolucionario geómetra Gromov, 'Nobel' de matemáticas, El Pais, March 2009
  4. ^ Russian-born mathematician wins math's version of the Nobel, Scientific American blog, March 2009.
  5. ^ Abel Prize Awarded: The Mathematicians' Nobel, Keith Devlin, maa.org, April 2004.
  6. ^ Foderaro, Lisa W. (June 1, 2009), "In N.Y.U.'s Tally of Abel Prizes for Mathematics, Gromov Makes Three", New York Times
  7. ^ The Abel Committee
  8. ^ History of the Abel Prize
  9. ^ H. Holden; R. Piene, eds. (2010), The Abel Prize 2003–2007, Heidelberg: Springer, doi:10.1007/978-3-642-01373-7, ISBN 978-3-642-01372-0
  10. ^ http://e24.no/jobb/abelprisvinnger-matte-skal-loese-virkelige-problemer/20233560
  11. ^ "The Abel Prize Laureate 2012". The Abel Prize Official Website. Retrieved 21 March 2012.
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