5 ms·

2023 Abel Prize: Luis A. Caffarelli

76 points by sohkamyung 4y ago

uptownfunk 4y ago
>> The Abel Prize (/ˈɑːbəl/ AH-bəl; Norwegian: Abelprisen [ˈɑ̀ːbl̩ˌpriːsn̩]) is awarded annually by the King of Norway to one or more outstanding mathematicians.[1] It is named after the Norwegian mathematician Niels Henrik Abel (1802–1829) and directly modeled after the Nobel Prizes.[2][3][4][5][6][7][8] It comes with a monetary award of 7.5 million Norwegian kroner (NOK; increased from 6 million NOK in 2019).
- Hanschri 4y ago
  Abel was a hugely gifted and influential mathematician who died from tuberculosis at only age 26, only days before he was supposed to receive a letter offering him a position as a professor for the University of Berlin. It is interesting to think what else he might have accomplished had he survived the infection.
uptownfunk 4y ago
>> Not only is Caffarelli remarkable for the depth of his work, he is also extraordinarily prolific. He has published 320 papers and, aged 74, continues to publish several papers a year. He is much loved within the community and has co-written papers with more than 130 people, his most frequent collaborator being Avner Friedman. Caffarelli’s papers have had 19,000 citations, a number that testifies to his influence in shaping the field. He has advised more than 30 PhD students.
enriquto 4y ago
Genius mathematician and an excellent expositor as well! One year, he was invited to give the inaugural lecture for undergraduate math in my university. The title of the talk was something like "four derivations of the heat equation". And it was really that, he explained some independent physical models to reach the same mathematical formulation. One of them was particles moving in random walks, another an out-of focus lens, etc. At the end he said that it was important for mathematicians to understand the connections between these interpretations because they lead to many new insights into the equation. For linear equations the story was already pretty well-known, but developing the corresponding methods for nonlinear equations was an ongoing story on which he was actively participating. It's not an exaggeration to say that most undergrads could follow most of the talk, which may be a unique occurrence as inaugural lessons go. Typically lower-level mathematicians that give these talks tend to explain complicated proofs; but he did just the opposite: only talk about modelling, with subtle side hints at methods of proof. The talk was so engaging that many attendees became extremely excited to work on nonlinear PDE. (And some of them did, to great success!)
- telotortium 4y ago
  I'm guessing it's not recorded?
  - enriquto 4y ago
    It may be this: https://zonavideo.upc.edu/video/60a2a12ca5ad8c425e09912e https://zonavideo.upc.edu/video/60a2a12ca5ad8c425e09912e (Lliçó inaugural Curs Poincaré (2003-2004), FME, UPC) I was there, but I don't recall it exactly like that... Maybe he gave another talk during the same visit and I'm mixing both? Memory is a bitch.
wslh 4y ago
Argentina has won another world cup. The Guardian reflects it as "The Messi of maths: Argentinian Luis Caffarelli wins Abel prize" [1] [1] https://www.theguardian.com/science/2023/mar/22/the-messi-of-maths-argentinian-luis-caffarelli-wins-abel-prize https://www.theguardian.com/science/2023/mar/22/the-messi-of...
- enriquto 4y ago
  ...showing again that the guardian is frivolous anti-intellectualism just like the daily mail. They would never name a sports player "the Caffarelli of that game".
  - borroka 4y ago
    I do not read any "frivolous anti-intellectualism" in this context. Caffarelli is, for all intents and purposes, unknown to the public (unknown even to me, who has a PhD in a field adjacent to applied mathematics). Messi is well known (I know about him). Both are from Argentina. Newspapers need people who read articles. It was neither a click-baity title (Caffarelli played soccer with Messi!) nor an inaccurate one.
racl101 4y ago
Abel prize? Never heard of it. Heard of the Fields Medal. So is that like Abel... like the guy who Abelian groups are named after, or Abel from Abel and Cain?
- enriquto 4y ago
  > So is that like Abel... like the guy who Abelian groups are named after, or Abel from Abel and Cain? Heh. Who do you think a math prize would be named for? There are two first-rate great prizes in math, roughly equivalent in prestige to the Nobel prize in other scientific disciplines. The Fields medal [0] is awarded every 4 years since 1950 to young mathematicians who have done outstanding work, typically a concrete ground-breaking contribution. The Abel prize [1] is awarded every year since 2003 to older mathematicians as recognition for an extremely productive and influential career. Some mathematicians, like Jean-Pierre Serre have won both prizes. Notice that, as happens with the Nobel prize, some extraordinary mathematicians were never awarded either prize, even if they clearly merited both. For example V.I. Arnold, who at least got the Wolf prize. [0] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fields_Medal https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fields_Medal [1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Abel_Prize https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Abel_Prize
  - racl101 4y ago
    Yeah, that second part of the statement was a dumb joke from me. But maybe it was a different Abel from the ones I listed.
- passion__desire 4y ago
  Michael J. Hopkins: The great wild manifold rodeo: Dennis Sullivan in algebraic topology (Abel Exposition Lecture) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AyBjMY2sDdE https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AyBjMY2sDdE
- balsam 4y ago
  Think of it as an upgrade from no bels to a single bel. The next milestone is weird, ten bels.

76 points by sohkamyung 4y ago

>> The Abel Prize (/ˈɑːbəl/ AH-bəl; Norwegian: Abelprisen [ˈɑ̀ːbl̩ˌpriːsn̩]) is awarded annually by the King of Norway to one or more outstanding mathematicians.[1] It is named after the Norwegian mathematician Niels Henrik Abel (1802–1829) and directly modeled after the Nobel Prizes.[2][3][4][5][6][7][8] It comes with a monetary award of 7.5 million Norwegian kroner (NOK; increased from 6 million NOK in 2019).

Hanschri 4y ago
Abel was a hugely gifted and influential mathematician who died from tuberculosis at only age 26, only days before he was supposed to receive a letter offering him a position as a professor for the University of Berlin. It is interesting to think what else he might have accomplished had he survived the infection.

uptownfunk 4y ago

>> Not only is Caffarelli remarkable for the depth of his work, he is also extraordinarily prolific. He has published 320 papers and, aged 74, continues to publish several papers a year. He is much loved within the community and has co-written papers with more than 130 people, his most frequent collaborator being Avner Friedman. Caffarelli’s papers have had 19,000 citations, a number that testifies to his influence in shaping the field. He has advised more than 30 PhD students.

enriquto 4y ago

Genius mathematician and an excellent expositor as well! One year, he was invited to give the inaugural lecture for undergraduate math in my university. The title of the talk was something like "four derivations of the heat equation". And it was really that, he explained some independent physical models to reach the same mathematical formulation. One of them was particles moving in random walks, another an out-of focus lens, etc. At the end he said that it was important for mathematicians to understand the connections between these interpretations because they lead to many new insights into the equation. For linear equations the story was already pretty well-known, but developing the corresponding methods for nonlinear equations was an ongoing story on which he was actively participating. It's not an exaggeration to say that most undergrads could follow most of the talk, which may be a unique occurrence as inaugural lessons go. Typically lower-level mathematicians that give these talks tend to explain complicated proofs; but he did just the opposite: only talk about modelling, with subtle side hints at methods of proof. The talk was so engaging that many attendees became extremely excited to work on nonlinear PDE. (And some of them did, to great success!)

telotortium 4y ago
I'm guessing it's not recorded?
- enriquto 4y ago
  It may be this: https://zonavideo.upc.edu/video/60a2a12ca5ad8c425e09912e https://zonavideo.upc.edu/video/60a2a12ca5ad8c425e09912e (Lliçó inaugural Curs Poincaré (2003-2004), FME, UPC) I was there, but I don't recall it exactly like that... Maybe he gave another talk during the same visit and I'm mixing both? Memory is a bitch.

wslh 4y ago

Argentina has won another world cup. The Guardian reflects it as "The Messi of maths: Argentinian Luis Caffarelli wins Abel prize" [1] [1] https://www.theguardian.com/science/2023/mar/22/the-messi-of-maths-argentinian-luis-caffarelli-wins-abel-prize https://www.theguardian.com/science/2023/mar/22/the-messi-of...

enriquto 4y ago
...showing again that the guardian is frivolous anti-intellectualism just like the daily mail. They would never name a sports player "the Caffarelli of that game".
- borroka 4y ago
  I do not read any "frivolous anti-intellectualism" in this context. Caffarelli is, for all intents and purposes, unknown to the public (unknown even to me, who has a PhD in a field adjacent to applied mathematics). Messi is well known (I know about him). Both are from Argentina. Newspapers need people who read articles. It was neither a click-baity title (Caffarelli played soccer with Messi!) nor an inaccurate one.

racl101 4y ago

Abel prize? Never heard of it. Heard of the Fields Medal. So is that like Abel... like the guy who Abelian groups are named after, or Abel from Abel and Cain?

enriquto 4y ago
> So is that like Abel... like the guy who Abelian groups are named after, or Abel from Abel and Cain? Heh. Who do you think a math prize would be named for? There are two first-rate great prizes in math, roughly equivalent in prestige to the Nobel prize in other scientific disciplines. The Fields medal [0] is awarded every 4 years since 1950 to young mathematicians who have done outstanding work, typically a concrete ground-breaking contribution. The Abel prize [1] is awarded every year since 2003 to older mathematicians as recognition for an extremely productive and influential career. Some mathematicians, like Jean-Pierre Serre have won both prizes. Notice that, as happens with the Nobel prize, some extraordinary mathematicians were never awarded either prize, even if they clearly merited both. For example V.I. Arnold, who at least got the Wolf prize. [0] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fields_Medal https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fields_Medal [1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Abel_Prize https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Abel_Prize
- racl101 4y ago
  Yeah, that second part of the statement was a dumb joke from me. But maybe it was a different Abel from the ones I listed.
passion__desire 4y ago
Michael J. Hopkins: The great wild manifold rodeo: Dennis Sullivan in algebraic topology (Abel Exposition Lecture) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AyBjMY2sDdE https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AyBjMY2sDdE
balsam 4y ago
Think of it as an upgrade from no bels to a single bel. The next milestone is weird, ten bels.