Wolf Prize to be Shared for Work on Partial Differential Equations, Impact on Theory of Finite Groups
The 2012 winners for Israel’s prestigious Wolf Prize, which is awarded in the fields of agriculture, chemistry, mathematics, medicine, physics and the arts, were announced on January 30, 2012, in a ceremony at the Israel Museum in Jerusalem by Israeli Education Minister Gideon Sa'ar. Luis Caffarelli, professor of mathematics at The University of Texas at Austin, and Michael Aschbacher, the Shaler Arthur Hanisch Professor of Mathematics at the California Institute of Technology, will share this year’s prize in mathematics, which consists of a certificate and a monetary award of $100,000.
"I feel deeply honored," says Caffarelli, who is a professor of mathematics, the holder of the Sid W. Richardson Foundation Regents' Chair in Mathematics No. 1, and a member of the ICES Applied Mathematics Group. "It is a testament to the support I've received from UT, where my children have studied, and my wife, Irene, and myself share our work with an exceptional, dedicated group of people both at the Department of Mathematics and ICES."
Recipients of the Wolf Prize are selected by an international committee of recognized experts in each field. As of 2011, a total of 253 scientists and artists from 23 countries have been honored. The award has been given most years since 1978 for "achievements in the interest of mankind and friendly relations among peoples ... irrespective of nationality, race, colour, religion, sex or political views." Israel's president, Shimon Peres, will present the awards May 13 at a ceremony in parliament.
Caffarelli's research interests include nonlinear analysis, partial differential equations and their applications, calculus of variations and optimization. He is a pioneer in methods tackling many classical problems that have long defied mathematicians. He has done seminal work connected to Navier Stokes Equations (whose understanding is one of The Clay Mathematics Millennium Prize Problems), and he also is widely recognized as the world's leading specialist in free-boundary problems for nonlinear partial differential equations. With his collaborators, he has authored more than 250 scientific publications documenting this work.
Michael Aschbacher, Caltech’s Shaler Arthur Hanisch Professor of Mathematics, is being recognized for his role in classifying types of mathematical objects called finite simple groups. According to the prize citation, "His impact on the theory of finite groups is extraordinary in its breadth, depth and beauty."
"The classification of finite simple groups is one of the crowning achievements of modern mathematics," says Hirosi Ooguri, the Fred Kavli Professor of Theoretical Physics and Mathematics at Caltech. "It's wonderful that Michael is recognized as the principle architect of this work."
"Receiving an award such as the Wolf Prize is, of course, personally very satisfying," Aschbacher says. "The finite simple groups are the building blocks of finite group theory, playing a role somewhat analogous to that of prime numbers in arithmetic. As a result, the classification theorem is not only a beautiful and natural result, but it's also very useful."
Aschbacher has recently garnered several awards for his work on finite simple groups. He was awarded the 2012 Leroy P. Steele Prize for Mathematical Exposition and, last year, he won the Rolf Schock Prize from the Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences. He also received the Cole Prize in Algebra and is a member of the National Academy of Sciences and the American Academy of Arts and Sciences.
The Wolf Prizes
Since 1978, five or six prizes have been awarded annually in the Sciences. The prize in each field consists of a certificate and a monetary award of $100,000. In the event of two or three recipients sharing the prize, the honorarium is divided equally.
International prize committees in each field, comprising renowned experts, select the Wolf Prize winners. Prize committees are appointed every year. Committee proceedings, minutes and recommendations are kept confidential, except for the recipients’ prize rationale.
To date, a total of 253 scientists and artists from 23 countries have been honored. Laureates receive their awards from the President of the State of Israel. The prize presentation takes place at a special ceremony at the Knesset Building (Israel´s Parliament), in Jerusalem.
Among this year's winners is singer Placido Domingo. Past winners have included notable names such as Stephen Hawking in physics, violinist Isaac Stern and architect Frank Gehry in the arts.
