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The Fields Medals have been announced today. The four winners are:
- Elon Lindenstrauss (for analytic work with applications to number theory)
- Ngô Bảo Châu (for analytic work with applications to number theory)
- Stanislav Smirnov (for theoretical work in statistical physics)
- Cedric Villani (for theoretical work in statistical physics).
Lindenstrauss made far-reaching advances in ergodic theory (the study of statistical behavior of dynamical systems); Ngô gave a proof of a long-standing conjecture in number theory, namely, the Fundamental Lemma; Smirnov brought mathematical rigor to statistical physics; and Villani made deep connections between mathematics and physics, especially in the topic of entropy.
I have to give Lindenstrauss credit, he spent six years in the army, which means he probably only started his master’s when he was 27 years old. (Also he’s from my university, and the first Israeli to win a fields medal, so there’s faculty pride).