2023 Abel Prize: Luis A. Caffarelli
abelprize.no
abelprize.no
One year, he was invited to give the inaugural lecture for undergraduate math in my university. The title of the talk was something like "four derivations of the heat equation". And it was really that, he explained some independent physical models to reach the same mathematical formulation. One of them was particles moving in random walks, another an out-of focus lens, etc. At the end he said that it was important for mathematicians to understand the connections between these interpretations because they lead to many new insights into the equation. For linear equations the story was already pretty well-known, but developing the corresponding methods for nonlinear equations was an ongoing story on which he was actively participating.
It's not an exaggeration to say that most undergrads could follow most of the talk, which may be a unique occurrence as inaugural lessons go. Typically lower-level mathematicians that give these talks tend to explain complicated proofs; but he did just the opposite: only talk about modelling, with subtle side hints at methods of proof. The talk was so engaging that many attendees became extremely excited to work on nonlinear PDE. (And some of them did, to great success!)
I was there, but I don't recall it exactly like that... Maybe he gave another talk during the same visit and I'm mixing both? Memory is a bitch.
[1] https://www.theguardian.com/science/2023/mar/22/the-messi-of...
Newspapers need people who read articles. It was neither a click-baity title (Caffarelli played soccer with Messi!) nor an inaccurate one.
So is that like Abel... like the guy who Abelian groups are named after, or Abel from Abel and Cain?
Heh. Who do you think a math prize would be named for?
There are two first-rate great prizes in math, roughly equivalent in prestige to the Nobel prize in other scientific disciplines. The Fields medal [0] is awarded every 4 years since 1950 to young mathematicians who have done outstanding work, typically a concrete ground-breaking contribution. The Abel prize [1] is awarded every year since 2003 to older mathematicians as recognition for an extremely productive and influential career. Some mathematicians, like Jean-Pierre Serre have won both prizes.
Notice that, as happens with the Nobel prize, some extraordinary mathematicians were never awarded either prize, even if they clearly merited both. For example V.I. Arnold, who at least got the Wolf prize.