Braverman and Lieb win arithmetic prizes for cross-discipline work
Princeton professors Elliott Lieb and Mark Braverman have been amongst these honored at present for important contributions to arithmetic and affiliated fields by the Worldwide Mathematical Union (IMU) in Helsinki, Finland.
Lieb, the Eugene Higgins Professor of Physics, Emeritus, and Professor of Mathematical Physics, Emeritus, was awarded the Carl Friedrich Gauss Prize for “deep mathematical contributions of remarkable breadth which have formed the fields of quantum mechanics, statistical mechanics, computational chemistry and quantum data idea.”
Braverman, a professor of pc science, was awarded the Abacus Medal for “his path-breaking analysis growing the speculation of knowledge complexity, a framework for utilizing data idea to cause about communication protocols.”
The awards have been introduced throughout the identical ceremony during which Princeton arithmetic professor June Huh was awarded the Fields Medal, sometimes called the “Nobel Prize of arithmetic.”
Extensive-ranging purposes
The Gauss prize that Lieb acquired, named for the German mathematician and physicist and awarded collectively by the German Mathematical Union (DMV), acknowledges excellent mathematical contributions which have discovered important purposes outdoors the sector. Lieb was honored for contributions to physics, chemistry and pure arithmetic.
“Paying homage to Gauss and different 18th and nineteenth century giants, Elliott H. Lieb, pushed by issues in and purposes to physics, has unraveled elegant and elementary mathematical buildings, vastly transcending the unique motivations,” the IMU quotation mentioned. “In doing so, Lieb has launched ideas which have formed complete fields of analysis in arithmetic even past his unique space, whereas having a transformative affect on physics and chemistry.”
On the award ceremony, the viewers watched a video during which Lieb mentioned his profession and summarized his analysis.
“Elliott Lieb is a number one determine in mathematical physics of the final 70 years,” mentioned Igor Rodnianski, professor and chair of the Division of Arithmetic, Lieb’s house division. “His profound and lasting affect has modified and in some instances redefined a number of branches of mathematical physics, together with quantum mechanics, statistical physics, computational chemistry and others.
“Alongside along with his affect on mathematical physics, evaluation and algebra, Elliott Lieb straight and not directly influenced, formed and guided a number of generations of mathematical physicists. We congratulate Elliott on this very deserved award,” Rodnianski mentioned.
“Elliott is a legend,” mentioned Herman Verlinde, chair of the Division of Physics. “All through his lengthy profession, Elliott had the distinctive skill to ask elementary questions on normal bodily programs and discover lovely actual outcomes about them, typically lengthy earlier than it was typically acknowledged that these questions have been necessary.
“Whereas desirous about bodily issues, he uncovered wealthy and surprising new mathematical buildings, and his rigorous mathematical outcomes have deeply impacted all components of theoretical science, together with the newest developments in condensed matter physics, quantum data science, statistical mechanics and quantum chemistry. It’s a true privilege to have him as a colleague,” mentioned Verlinde, who can be the Class of 1909 Professor of Physics.
Lieb mentioned it was shock and a pleasure to obtain the Gauss award. In November he acquired the Medal of the Erwin Schrödinger Institute for Arithmetic and Physics, and in January acquired the APS Medal for Distinctive Achievement in Analysis from the American Bodily Society.
Initially eager to turn into {an electrical} engineer, Lieb determined to pursue physics in his first yr as an undergraduate on the Massachusetts Institute of Know-how. He graduated in 1953. Three years later, he acquired his Ph.D. in mathematical physics from the College of Birmingham in the UK.
His profession took him to IBM, the place he met younger colleagues who needed to strategy physics “with a mathematical slant.” He moved on to a number of universities, together with Northeastern and MIT, and got here to Princeton in 1975, in the end transferring to emeritus standing in 2017 however persevering with his work.
“I’m engaged on a paper proper now,” he mentioned.
Award for data science
Braverman is the primary recipient of the Abacus Medal, which honors distinguished achievements in mathematical points of knowledge science. The Abacus honor is a continuation of the Rolf Nevanlinna Prize that was awarded from 1982 to 2018.
“Mark Braverman led the event of the speculation of knowledge complexity, the interactive analog of Shannon’s data idea,” his quotation mentioned. “Along with his work on data complexity, Braverman has made contributions to numerous areas on the interface of theoretical pc science and mathematical sciences.”
Braverman, whose work focuses on theoretical pc science and its connections to different disciplines, mentioned the Abacus Medal was an ideal honor for himself and his analysis group. He added that it’s “an ideal duty to the sector going ahead.”
The IMU performed a video profiling Braverman during which his youngsters are featured illustrating the ideas of a few of his work.
Braverman was born in Russia when it was a part of the Soviet Union. His household moved to Israel after which to Canada. He acquired a bachelor of arts in arithmetic and pc science from the Technion (the Israel Institute of Know-how) in 2001. He acquired his Ph.D. in pc science from the College of Toronto in 2008. After spending two years as a postdoctoral researcher on the Microsoft Analysis New England laboratory and a yr on the school of the College of Toronto, he joined the Princeton college in 2011 and was promoted to full professor in 2015.
“Mark’s checklist of accomplishments is astonishing,” mentioned Jennifer Rexford, chair of the Division of Laptop Science, noting the various honors Braverman has acquired since profitable a Math Olympiad gold medal at age 16.
“Our trendy networked lives depend on communication protocols that enable a number of computer systems to work collectively to compute solutions to necessary questions,” Rexford mentioned. “Mark’s ingenious analysis lays foundations for understanding how a number of events can cooperate effectively — minimizing the quantity of knowledge they should share to finish their activity.”
Rexford, who can be the Gordon Y.S. Wu Professor in Engineering and a professor of pc science, famous that Princeton’s pc science division has an extended historical past of foundational analysis in computing. “With the rising position of pc science in each self-discipline and each human endeavor, pushing the frontiers of the sector is extra necessary than ever,” she mentioned.
Liz Fuller-Wright contributed to this story.
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