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Photo: John Forbes Nash From Wikimedia Commons, the free media repository |
Nash, a Princeton senior research mathematician, will share the prize with longtime colleague Louis Nirenberg, a professor emeritus at New York University's Courant Institute of Mathematical Sciences. Nash is the second consecutive Princeton researcher to receive the honor; Yakov Sinai, a Princeton University professor of mathematics, was awarded the 2014 Abel Prize for his influential 50-year career in mathematics. Several past winners have been University alumni.
Nash is a 1994 Nobel Prize laureate in economics publicly known for his work in game theory as dramatized in the 2001 film "A Beautiful Mind" in which he was portrayed by actor Russell Crowe.
It is Nash's work in geometry and partial differential equations that "the mathematical community regards as his most important and deepest work," according to the academy.
The prize citation recognized Nash and Nirenberg for "striking and seminal contributions to the theory of nonlinear partial differential equations and its applications to geometric analysis."
The academy went on to say: "Their breakthroughs have developed into versatile and robust techniques, which have become essential tools for the study of nonlinear partial differential equations. Their impact can be felt in all branches of the theory …. [T]he widespread impact of both Nash and Nirenberg on the modern toolbox of nonlinear partial differential equations cannot be fully covered here."
David Gabai, the Hughes-Rogers Professor of Mathematics and department chair, said that Nash's approach to a mathematical problem was so innovative that his methods, such as the Nash embedding theorems, became just as important as the solution.
Nash's name is attached to a range of influential work in mathematics, including the Nash-Moser inverse function theorem, the Nash-De Giorgi theorem (which stemmed from a problem Nash undertook at the suggestion of Nirenberg), and the Nash embedding theorems, which the academy described as "among the most original results in geometric analysis of the twentieth century."
"The Nash embedding/immersion theorems are absolutely incredible results that any mathematician can appreciate," Gabai said. "Nash's work in game theory and geometry are absolutely fundamental, yet there is no comparison between the depth of the latter and that of the former. His embedding theorems required not only unusual insight but also tremendous technical expertise."
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John Forbes Nash (From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia)
Congratulations to mathematician John Nash for the prestigious award!
Source: Princeton University
