Wolf prize

Abel prize

The Fields Prize, awarded by 1936, is the Nobel Prize in mathematics.

Introduction of Fields Prize

The Fields Medal is named after the late Canadian mathematician and educator J.C. Fields.

J.C. Fields 1863 was born in Canada on May 14. 1 1 years old lost his father, 18 years old lost his mother. His family is not very good. J.C. Fields entered the University of Toronto to study mathematics at the age of 17. At the age of 24, he received his Ph.D. degree from Johns Hopkins University and worked as a professor at Allegheny University for 26 years. From 65438 to 0892, he went to Paris and Berlin to study and work. 65438-0902 After returning to China, he taught at the University of Toronto. 1907 J.C. Fields was elected as a member of the Royal Society of Canada. He was also elected as a member of many scientific groups such as the Royal Society and the Soviet Academy of Sciences.

J.C. Fields strongly advocates that the development of mathematics should be internationalized. He has unique views on the importance of international exchange of mathematics and has made great contributions to promoting the development of mathematics in North America. In order to make mathematics in North America develop rapidly and catch up with Europe, he took the lead in promoting postgraduate education in Canada, and also fully prepared and presided over the International Congress of Mathematicians held in Toronto in 1924 (this was the first international congress of mathematicians held outside Europe). It was this congress that made him break down from constant overwork and his health never improved, but it did have a far-reaching impact on promoting the development of mathematics in North America and the international exchange of mathematicians. When he learned that there was a balance of funds for this conference, he came up with the idea of using it as a fund to set up an international mathematics prize. To this end, he actively traveled in Europe and the United States, seeking extensive support, and planned to personally put forward suggestions at the ninth international congress of mathematicians held in Zurich on 1932. Unfortunately, he died before the opening of the conference. J.C. Fields made a will before his death, and he added his legacy to the above surplus funds, which was transferred from the Department of Mathematics of the University of Toronto to the Ninth International Congress of Mathematicians, which immediately accepted the proposal.

J.C. Fields originally requested that the prize money should be named after "international prize money" instead of individuals, countries or institutions. However, mathematicians attending the International Congress of Mathematicians unanimously agreed to name the award the Fields Prize, in recognition and memory of J.C. Fields' foresight, organizational ability and his great spirit of selfless dedication in promoting international exchanges in mathematics.

The first Fields Medal was awarded in 1936, which did not attract much attention in the world at that time. Even many college students majoring in mathematics may not know about this prize, and science magazines do not report the winners and their achievements. However, 30 years later, the situation is completely different. Every time an international congress of mathematicians is held, people compete to report the winners from authoritative international mathematical magazines to general mathematical publications. The reputation of the Fields Medal has been continuously improved, and it has finally been confirmed by people: for young people, the Fields Medal is the highest mathematics prize in the world.

The biggest feature of Fields Prize is to reward young people, and only to mathematicians under the age of 40 (this seems to be an unwritten rule at first, but it has been clearly defined later), that is, to reward those who can play a significant role in the future development of mathematics.

The Fields Medal is a gold medal with a prize of $65,438+0,500. On the obverse of the medal is Archimedes' head in relief (see the picture below). As far as the number of awards is concerned, it can be said to be insignificant compared with the Nobel Prize, but why is it so lofty in people's minds? There are three main reasons: first, under the auspices of the International Mathematical Federation, an international authoritative academic group in the field of mathematics, it was evaluated and selected from world-class young mathematicians; Secondly, it is grandly awarded at the international congress of mathematicians held every four years, and there are only 2-4 winners each time (generally only 2), so the chances of winning the prize are even less than the Nobel Prize; Third, the most fundamental one is that the winners have won the reputation of the international community because of their outstanding talents. As the famous mathematician C. H.H.H.H.Weill commented on the two winners of 1954 in this century, they "reached a height they never imagined", "I have never seen such a star rise brilliantly in the mathematical sky" and "the mathematical community is proud of the work you two have done". This proves that the Fields Prize is the highest international mathematics prize for young mathematicians in the world.

The awarding ceremony of Fields Prize is held at the opening ceremony of each international congress of mathematicians. First of all, the chairman of the Executive Committee (the chairman of the jury) announced the winners' list, and the audience applauded. Then, medals and prizes will be awarded by important figures of the host country (local mayor, president of the National Academy of Sciences and even the king and president) or the chairman of the jury or well-known mathematicians who are widely expected. Finally, some authoritative mathematicians briefly introduced the main mathematical achievements of the winners one by one.

From 1936 to 1999, 43 people won the Fields Medal. They are all bright stars rising from Ran Ran in the mathematical sky and elites in the field of mathematics.

Introduction to Wolf Prize

1 976 65438+1October1,R. Wolf and his family set up the Wolf Foundation at a cost of10, with the main purpose of promoting the development of science and art all over the world. Wolff was born in Germany on 1887. His father is a hardware dealer in Hanover, Germany, and a celebrity in the Jewish society in this city. Wolff studied chemistry in Germany and got a doctorate. Moved to Cuba before the First World War. He spent nearly 20 years, experienced a lot of experiments and hardships, and successfully invented the method of recovering iron from smelting waste residue, thus becoming a millionaire. 1961-1973 He was the Cuban ambassador to Israel and later settled in Israel. He is an advocate and major donor of the Wolf Foundation. R Wolff died in 198 1. The chairman of the board of directors of the foundation is an Israeli government official. The award committee is composed of world-renowned scientists. The Wolf Foundation has five prizes: Mathematics, Physics, Chemistry, Medicine and Agriculture (198 1 adds an art prize). 1978 began to award prizes, usually once a year. The prize money of each prize is 65438+ million dollars, which can be divided among several people. From 1978 to 1990, 24 mathematicians have won the Wolf Prize in mathematics. Because wolf prize in mathematics has the nature of a lifetime achievement award, these 24 mathematicians are all famous contemporary mathematicians, and their achievements represent the level and progress of contemporary mathematics to some extent.

The Wolf Prize is held once a year.

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Abel Prize, a Mathematical Prize Established in Norway

In 2003, the Abel Prize for Mathematicians will be awarded in Oslo, Norway, with a prize of nearly $800,000. Stormer, a professor of mathematics at the University of Oslo, who attended the Congress of the Member States of the International Mathematical Union here today, announced the news.

Stormer is one of the five members of the Abel Committee. He hoped that the International Mathematical Union could recommend a candidate to compete for the first Abel Prize.

Stormer said that the Abel Prize named after the talented Norwegian mathematician Abel will be awarded annually to scientists who have made outstanding contributions in the field of mathematics. There is no age limit for the winners, and the award ceremony will be held in Oslo every June. The purpose of setting up this bonus is to improve the status of mathematics in society and stimulate teenagers' interest in learning mathematics.

Prior to this, the highest honor in international mathematics was the Fields Prize awarded by 1936. The Fields Prize is held every four years, and the winner should not be over 40 years old when receiving the prize. So far, only 42 mathematicians have won this prize, but the prize money is only 1% of the Abel Prize-4,000 dollars.

Stormer said that the nomination method for the Abel Prize has not been finalized. In principle, every mathematician can recommend candidates to the Abel Committee, but only the Abel Committee has the right to finally nominate candidates to the Abel Committee.

The five-member Abel Prize Committee will decide who is the first lucky winner of the Abel Prize. All five members must be appointed by the Norwegian Academy of Sciences, including two from the Norwegian Academy of Sciences and three from the Royal Norwegian Academy of Social Sciences, the Norwegian Higher Education Council and the University of Oslo.

According to reports, in order to commemorate the 200th anniversary of the birth of the talented mathematician Abel in Norway, the Norwegian Ministry of Finance allocated 200 million Norwegian kroner (about 22 million US dollars) to set up the Abel Memorial Fund at the beginning of this year, and the proceeds from the fund will be used for the Abel Prize, the Abel Prize awarding ceremony and the youth mathematics education activities.

Abel was far ahead in the research level of quintic equation and elliptic function at that time, but he was poor and ill because of academic recognition, and died of tuberculosis before he was 27 years old. The French mathematician Hermite once lamented: "The ideas left by Abel can be used by mathematicians for 150 years."

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