Breakthrough Prize in Mathematics

Last updated

The Breakthrough Prize in Mathematics is an annual award of the Breakthrough Prize series announced in 2013.

Contents

It is funded by Yuri Milner [1] and Mark Zuckerberg and others. [2] The annual award comes with a cash gift of $3 million. The Breakthrough Prize Board also selects up to three laureates for the New Horizons in Mathematics Prize, which awards $100,000 to early-career researchers. Starting in 2021 (prizes announced in September 2020), the $50,000 Maryam Mirzakhani New Frontiers Prize is also awarded to a number of women mathematicians who have completed their PhDs within the past two years.

Motivation

The founders of the prize have stated that they want to help scientists to be perceived as celebrities again, and to reverse a 50-year "downward trend". [3] They hope that this may make "more young students aspire to be scientists". [3]

Laureates

YearPortraitLaureate
(birth/death)		CountryRationaleAffiliation
2015 [4] Simon Donaldson.jpg Simon Donaldson
(b. 1957)		Flag of the United Kingdom.svg  United Kingdom "for the new revolutionary invariants of 4-dimensional manifolds and for the study of the relation between stability in algebraic geometry and in global differential geometry, both for bundles and for Fano varieties." [5] Stony Brook University
Imperial College London
Maxim Kontsevich 1994 (headshot).jpg Maxim Kontsevich
(b. 1964)		Flag of Russia.svg  Russia
Flag of France.svg  France 		"for work making a deep impact in a vast variety of mathematical disciplines, including algebraic geometry, deformation theory, symplectic topology, homological algebra and dynamical systems." [6] Institut des Hautes Études Scientifiques
Jacob Lurie.jpg Jacob Lurie
(b. 1977)		Flag of the United States.svg  United States "for his work on the foundations of higher category theory and derived algebraic geometry; for the classification of fully extended topological quantum field theories; and for providing a moduli-theoretic interpretation of elliptic cohomology." [7] Harvard University
Terence Tao, PCAST Member (cropped).jpg Terence Tao
(b. 1975)		Flag of Australia (converted).svg  Australia
Flag of the United States.svg  United States 		"for numerous breakthrough contributions to harmonic analysis, combinatorics, partial differential equations and analytic number theory." [8] University of California, Los Angeles
Richard Taylor (mathematician).jpg Richard Taylor
(b. 1962)		Flag of the United Kingdom.svg  United Kingdom
Flag of the United States.svg  United States 		"for numerous breakthrough results in the theory of automorphic forms, including the Taniyama–Weil conjecture, the local Langlands conjecture for general linear groups, and the Sato–Tate conjecture." [9] Institute for Advanced Study
2016 Ian Agol, Aarhus 2012.jpg Ian Agol
(b. 1970)		Flag of the United States.svg  United States "for spectacular contributions to low dimensional topology and geometric group theory, including work on the solutions of the tameness, virtually Haken and virtual fibering conjectures." [10] [11] University of California, Berkeley
Institute for Advanced Study
2017 Jean Bourgain (vertical crop).jpg Jean Bourgain
(1954–2018)		Flag of Belgium (civil).svg  Belgium "for multiple transformative contributions to analysis, combinatorics, partial differential equations, high-dimensional geometry and number theory." [12] Institute for Advanced Study
2018 Christopher Hacon.jpg Christopher Hacon
(b. 1970)		Flag of the United Kingdom.svg  United Kingdom
Flag of the United States.svg  United States 		"for transformational contributions to birational algebraic geometry, especially to the minimal model program in all dimensions." [13] [14] University of Utah
James McKernan.jpg James McKernan
(b. 1964)		Flag of the United Kingdom.svg  United Kingdom University of California, San Diego
2019 ICM 2018 Vincent Lafforgue.jpg Vincent Lafforgue
(b. 1974)		Flag of France.svg  France "for ground breaking contributions to several areas of mathematics, in particular to the Langlands program in the function field case." [15] Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique
Institut Fourier, Université Grenoble-Alpes
2020 Blank.png Alex Eskin
(b. 1965)		Flag of the United States.svg  United States "for revolutionary discoveries in the dynamics and geometry of moduli spaces of Abelian differentials, including the proof of the 'magic wand theorem'." [16] University of Chicago
Maryam Mirzakhani in Seoul 2014.jpg Maryam Mirzakhani
(1977–2017)
(posthumously awarded)		Flag of Iran.svg  Iran
Flag of the United States.svg  United States 		Stanford University
2021 Professor Martin Hairer FRS.jpg Martin Hairer
(b. 1975)		Flag of Austria.svg  Austria
Flag of the United Kingdom.svg  United Kingdom 		"for transformative contributions to the theory of stochastic analysis, particularly the theory of regularity structures in stochastic partial differential equations." [17] [18] Imperial College London
2022 Takuro Mochizuki cropped Takuro Mochizuki 20110412.jpg Takurō Mochizuki
(b. 1972)		Flag of Japan.svg  Japan "for monumental work leading to a breakthrough in our understanding of the theory of bundles with flat connections over algebraic varieties, including the case of irregular singularities." [19] Kyoto University
2023 Blank.png Daniel Spielman
(b. 1970)		Flag of the United States.svg  United States "for breakthrough contributions to theoretical computer science and mathematics, including to spectral graph theory, the Kadison-Singer problem, numerical linear algebra, optimization, and coding theory." [20] Yale University
2024 Simon Brendle.jpg Simon Brendle

(b. 1981)

Flag of Germany.svg  Germany
Flag of the United States.svg  United States 		"for transformative contributions to differential geometry, including sharp geometric inequalities, many results on Ricci flow and mean curvature flow and the Lawson conjecture on minimal tori in the 3-sphere." [21] Columbia University

New Horizons in Mathematics Prize

The past laureates of the New Horizons in Mathematics prize are: [22]

Maryam Mirzakhani New Frontiers Prize

See also

Notes

  1. ↑ "Yuri Milner | Technology Investor & Science Philanthropist". www.yurimilner.com.
  2. ↑ Overbye, Dennis (14 December 2013). "$3 Million Prizes Will Go to Mathematicians, Too". The New York Times. Retrieved 14 August 2018.
  3. 1 2 Markoff, John (10 November 2015). "Breakthrough Prize Looks to Stars to Shine on Science". The New York Times. Retrieved 14 August 2018. Yuri Milner: 'We peaked 50 years ago and it has been a downward slope since then.'
  4. ↑ Chang, Kenneth (23 June 2014). "The Multimillion-Dollar Minds of 5 Mathematical Masters". The New York Times. Retrieved 14 August 2018.
  5. ↑ "Mathematics Breakthrough Prize > Laureates > Simon Donaldson". Archived from the original on 2014-11-01. Retrieved 2014-06-24.
  6. ↑ "Mathematics Breakthrough Prize > Laureates > Maxim Kontsevich". Archived from the original on 2014-11-01. Retrieved 2014-06-24.
  7. ↑ "Mathematics Breakthrough Prize > Laureates > Jacob Lurie". Archived from the original on 2014-11-01. Retrieved 2014-06-24.
  8. ↑ "Mathematics Breakthrough Prize > Laureates > Terence Tao". Archived from the original on 2014-11-01. Retrieved 2014-06-24.
  9. ↑ "Mathematics Breakthrough Prize > Laureates > Richard Taylor".
  10. ↑ The New York Times (6 November 2015). "Breakthrough Prizes Give Top Scientists the Rock Star Treatment". The New York Times. Retrieved 14 August 2018.
  11. ↑ "Breakthrough Prize – Mathematics Breakthrough Prize Laureates – Ian Agol". breakthroughprize.org.
  12. ↑ "Breakthrough Prize – Breakthrough Prize Marks 5th Anniversary Celebrating Top Achievements In Science And Awards More Than $25 Million In Prizes At Gala Ceremony In Silicon Valley". breakthroughprize.org.
  13. ↑ "Breakthrough Prize – Mathematics Breakthrough Prize Laureates – Christopher Hacon". breakthroughprize.org.
  14. ↑ "Breakthrough Prize – Mathematics Breakthrough Prize Laureates – James McKernan". breakthroughprize.org.
  15. ↑ "Breakthrough Prize – Winners of the 2019 Breakthrough Prize in Life Sciences, Fundamental Physics and Mathematics Announced". breakthroughprize.org.
  16. ↑ "Breakthrough Prize – Winners Of The 2020 Breakthrough Prize In Life Sciences, Fundamental Physics And Mathematics Announced". breakthroughprize.org.
  17. ↑ "Breakthrough Prize – Winners Of The 2021 Breakthrough Prizes In Life Sciences, Fundamental Physics And Mathematics Announced". breakthroughprize.org.
  18. ↑ Sample, Ian, ed. (September 10, 2020). "UK mathematician wins richest prize in academia". The Guardian– via www.theguardian.com.
  19. ↑ "Breakthrough Prize – Winners Of The 20212 Breakthrough Prizes In Life Sciences, Fundamental Physics And Mathematics Announced". breakthroughprize.org. Retrieved 9 September 2021.
  20. ↑ "Breakthrough Prize – Winners Of The 2023 Breakthrough Prizes In Life Sciences, Mathematics And Fundamental Physics Announced". breakthroughprize.org. Retrieved 2022-09-22.
  21. 1 2 3 "BREAKTHROUGH PRIZE ANNOUNCES 2024 LAUREATES IN LIFE SCIENCES, FUNDAMENTAL PHYSICS, AND MATHEMATICS". BREAKTHROUGH PRIZE. September 14, 2023. Retrieved September 14, 2023.
  22. ↑ "Breakthrough Prize – Mathematics Breakthrough Prize – Laureates". breakthroughprize.org.

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Maxim Kontsevich</span> Russian and French mathematician (born 1964)

Maxim Lvovich Kontsevich is a Russian and French mathematician and mathematical physicist. He is a professor at the Institut des Hautes Études Scientifiques and a distinguished professor at the University of Miami. He received the Henri Poincaré Prize in 1997, the Fields Medal in 1998, the Crafoord Prize in 2008, the Shaw Prize and Breakthrough Prize in Fundamental Physics in 2012, and the Breakthrough Prize in Mathematics in 2015.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">John Tate (mathematician)</span> American mathematician (1925–2019)

John Torrence Tate Jr. was an American mathematician distinguished for many fundamental contributions in algebraic number theory, arithmetic geometry, and related areas in algebraic geometry. He was awarded the Abel Prize in 2010.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Pierre Deligne</span> Belgian mathematician

Pierre René, Viscount Deligne is a Belgian mathematician. He is best known for work on the Weil conjectures, leading to a complete proof in 1973. He is the winner of the 2013 Abel Prize, 2008 Wolf Prize, 1988 Crafoord Prize, and 1978 Fields Medal.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Richard Taylor (mathematician)</span> British mathematician

Richard Lawrence Taylor is a British mathematician working in the field of number theory. He is currently the Barbara Kimball Browning Professor in Humanities and Sciences at Stanford University.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Simon Donaldson</span> English mathematician

Sir Simon Kirwan Donaldson is an English mathematician known for his work on the topology of smooth (differentiable) four-dimensional manifolds, Donaldson–Thomas theory, and his contributions to Kähler geometry. He is currently a permanent member of the Simons Center for Geometry and Physics at Stony Brook University in New York, and a Professor in Pure Mathematics at Imperial College London.

Vladimir Gershonovich Drinfeld, surname also romanized as Drinfel'd, is a mathematician from the former USSR, who emigrated to the United States and is currently working at the University of Chicago.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Michael Artin</span> American mathematician

Michael Artin is an American mathematician and a professor emeritus in the Massachusetts Institute of Technology Mathematics Department, known for his contributions to algebraic geometry.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Yuri Manin</span> Russian mathematician (1937–2023)

Yuri Ivanovich Manin was a Russian mathematician, known for work in algebraic geometry and diophantine geometry, and many expository works ranging from mathematical logic to theoretical physics.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Arithmetic geometry</span> Branch of algebraic geometry focused on problems in number theory

In mathematics, arithmetic geometry is roughly the application of techniques from algebraic geometry to problems in number theory. Arithmetic geometry is centered around Diophantine geometry, the study of rational points of algebraic varieties.

The MIT Center for Theoretical Physics (CTP) is the hub of theoretical nuclear physics, particle physics, and quantum information research at MIT. It is a subdivision of MIT Laboratory for Nuclear Science and Department of Physics.

The Breakthrough Prize in Fundamental Physics is one of the Breakthrough Prizes, awarded by the Breakthrough Prize Board. Initially named Fundamental Physics Prize, it was founded in July 2012 by Russia-born Israeli entrepreneur, venture capitalist and physicist Yuri Milner. The prize is awarded to physicists from theoretical, mathematical, or experimental physics that have made transformative contributions to fundamental physics, and specifically for recent advances.

The Breakthrough Prize in Life Sciences is a scientific award, funded by internet entrepreneurs Mark Zuckerberg and Priscilla Chan of Facebook; Sergey Brin of Google; entrepreneur and venture capitalist Yuri Milner; and Anne Wojcicki, one of the founders of the genetics company 23andMe.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Peter Scholze</span> German mathematician (born 1987)

Peter Scholze is a German mathematician known for his work in arithmetic geometry. He has been a professor at the University of Bonn since 2012 and director at the Max Planck Institute for Mathematics since 2018. He has been called one of the leading mathematicians in the world. He won the Fields Medal in 2018, which is regarded as the highest professional honor in mathematics.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Breakthrough Prize</span> International scientific awards

The Breakthrough Prizes are a set of international awards bestowed in three categories by the Breakthrough Prize Board in recognition of scientific advances. The awards are part of several "Breakthrough" initiatives founded and funded by Yuri Milner and his wife Julia Milner, along with Breakthrough Initiatives and Breakthrough Junior Challenge.

Ana Caraiani is a Romanian-American mathematician, who is a Royal Society University Research Fellow and Hausdorff Chair at the University of Bonn. Her research interests include algebraic number theory and the Langlands program.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">André Neves</span> Portuguese mathematician (born 1975)

André da Silva Graça Arroja Neves is a Portuguese mathematician and a professor at the University of Chicago. He joined the faculty of the University of Chicago in 2016. In 2012, jointly with Fernando Codá Marques, he solved the Willmore conjecture.

Jacob Tsimerman is a Canadian mathematician at the University of Toronto specialising in number theory and related areas. He was awarded the SASTRA Ramanujan Prize in the year 2015 in recognition for his work on the André–Oort conjecture and for his work in both analytic number theory and algebraic geometry.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Aleksei Parshin</span> Russian mathematician (1942–2022)

Aleksei Nikolaevich Parshin was a Russian mathematician, specializing in arithmetic geometry. He is most well-known for his role in the proof of the Mordell conjecture.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Bhargav Bhatt (mathematician)</span> Indian-American mathematician (born 1983)

Bhargav Bhatt is an Indian-American mathematician who is the Fernholz Joint Professor at the Institute for Advanced Study and Princeton University and works in arithmetic geometry and commutative algebra.

This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.