Abel Award Laureates

The Abel award is an International Award by The Norwegian Academy of Science and Letters which is awarded for outstanding, exceptional work by living mathematicians, mathematical physicists or theoretical physicists. The Niels Henrik Abel (1802–1829) Memorial Fund was established at the bicentenary of Abel's birth (in 2002) to award the Abel Prize for outstanding scientific work in the field of mathematics. The choice of an Abel Laureate is based upon the recommendation by the Abel Committee consisting of five internationally recognized mathematicians, and is handed over by the King of Norway in an official ceremony. Both Jean-Pierre Serre and Mikhail L. Gromov attended the Abel ceremony in May 2009. Norway is reported to have provided in 2002 an initial, total funding of NOK 200,000,000 (over 23 million USD) = in an attempt to generate publicity for mathematics, and increase its popularity especially with young students of mathematics and mathematical physics. One can thus say that to date all of the awards are for advanced mathematics relevant to both `pure' mathematics and physics. “The Abel Prize recognizes contributions of extraordinary depth and influence to the mathematical sciences and has been awarded annually since 2003. It carries a cash award of NOK 6,000,000 (close to Euros 700,000, or USD 950,000). Mikhail L. Gromov will receive the Abel Prize from His Majesty King Harald at an award ceremony in Oslo, Norway, May 19. ”.

The following is the current short list of Abel Laureates.

• 2003: Jean-Pierre Serre, “for playing a key role in shaping the modern form of many parts of mathematics, including topology, algebraic geometry and number theory.”
• 2004: Sir Michael Francis Atiyah and Isadore M. Singer, “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, “for his groundbreaking contributions to the theory and application of partial differential equations and to the computation of their solutions.”
• 2006: Lennart Carleson, “for his profound and seminal contributions to harmonic analysis and the theory of smooth dynamical systems.”
• 2007: Srinivasa S. R. Varadhan, “for his fundamental contributions to probability theory and in particular for creating a unified theory of large deviations.”
• 2008: John Griggs Thomson (at U. Florida, USA) and Jacques Tits (at Collège de France, in Paris, France), “for their profound achievements in algebra and in particular for shaping modern group theory.”
• 2009: Mikhail Leonidovich Gromov, received his award for his revolutionary contributions to geometry.

  Gromov-Witten invariants are of significant interest in modern quantum field theory,the theory of groups of polynomial growth, and also immersion theory.

  He is a foreign member of the U.S. National Academy of Sciences and of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences, and a Member of l'Académie Francaise de Sciences (The French Academy of Sciences) (along with Jean-Pierre Serre).

  His achievements have been considered by certain mathematicians as `the greatest in mathematics' for the beginning of this millenium.