Questions Robert Langlands asked at age 30 win him Abel Prize at age 81
Canadian-American mathematician Robert P. Langlands has been awarded the 2018 Abel Prize for introducing a theory that would bring together diverse areas of mathematics. According to the Abel Prize committee, Langlands’ theory revolutionized the field of mathematics as it “suggested deep links between two areas, number theory and harmonic analysis, which had previously been considered as unrelated.”
The Abel Prize has recognized Langlands, now 81, for the conjectures he made in 1967 when he was 30 years old. He wrote a 17-page letter to the renowned French mathematician André Weil to share his insights. In it, he made several conjectures about number theory and harmonic analysis. Langlands modestly wrote this in the covering note to the letter:
“If you are willing to read it [the letter] as pure speculation I would appreciate that. If not – I am sure you have a waste basket handy.”
The speculations Langlands made and the insights he revealed in the letter were groundbreaking; so much so that the letter became the beginning of a project that came to be known as Langlands program. This program, which has also been described as “a grand unified theory of mathematics,” has had several elite mathematicians working toward pursuing the ambitious project of bridging harmonic analysis with number theory.
Throughout his life Langlands has continued to pursue the program while also focusing his attention on some problems in theoretical physics. Speaking about Langlands, one of the members of the Abel Prize committee, Sun-Yung Alice Chang, a mathematician at Princeton University, said “He’s revolutionary.”
Langlands, who is now professor emeritus at the Institute for Advanced Study, will receive the prize (which includes a cash prize amounting to US$700,000) from His Majesty King Harald V at an award ceremony in Oslo on 22 May.
Congratulations to Robert Langlands!
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References
Abel Prize 2018: Robert Langlands wins for ‘unified theory of maths’
Robert P. Langlands Is Awarded the Abel Prize, a Top Math Honor
