The Argentine-American mathematician Luis Caffarelli won the prestigious Abel Prize on Wednesday for his work with “partial differential equations”, which allow us to describe phenomena as different as the flow of water or the growth of populations.
He is the first South American mathematician to enter the prize list of the prestigious Norwegian prize, which began to be awarded in 2003.
Professor at the University of Texas, Caffarelli, 74, was rewarded for his “fundamental contributions to the theory of the regularity of nonlinear partial differential equations,” announced the Norwegian Academy of Sciences and Letters.
“It is an honor to receive this distinction, which highlights a lifetime of work,” said the laureate, “surprised” and “happy”, to the Norwegian press agency NTB.
Differential equations are tools used by scientists to predict the behavior of the physical world, and relate one or more unknown functions and their derivatives, the academy said in its statement.
They play a leading role in many disciplines, including physics, economics, and biology.
The Nordic country’s academy highlighted in particular the laureate’s contributions over more than 40 years to the theory of regularity.
“By combining his brilliant geometric knowledge with ingenious analytical tools and methods, he has had and continues to have a major impact on the field,” said Helge Holden, chair of the Abel committee.
The University of Texas congratulated his professor in a statement for receiving “the highest honor in mathematics.”
“Luis Caffarelli has introduced new and ingenious techniques that show brilliant geometric acumen,” said the president of this university in Austin, Jay Hartzell, in this statement.
“Changing the world starts with understanding the world, and Luis has helped advance humanity’s understanding of some of the most formidable problems in mathematics,” he added.
Caffarelli succeeds American Dennis Parnell Sullivan, who had won the Abel Prize last year for his work on topology and chaos theory.
Named after the Norwegian mathematician Niels Henrik Abel (1802-1829), the prize is funded by the Norwegian government and is endowed with 7.5 million Norwegian krone (676,500 euros, or $728,500).
Caffarelli will receive the distinction in Oslo on May 23. An extremely prolific mathematician, Cafarelli has collaborated more than 130 times and advised more than 30 doctoral students over a period of 50 years.
The Argentine-American has won numerous awards, including the Leroy Steele Lifetime Achievement Award from the American Mathematical Society, the Wolf Prize, and the Shaw Prize.
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