by Playfuls Staff |
22nd March 2007
Indian-born Srinivasa S R Varadhan was Thursday named winner of the Norwegian Abel Prize, known as the "Nobel Prize for mathematics."
Varadhan was cited for his "fundamental [more] contributions to probability theory and in particular for a unified theory of large deviations," the jury said.
In mathematics, probability theory is the tool used to analyse situations governed by chance, while his theory of large deviations was said to have provided explanations applicable in "fields as diverse as quantum field theory, statistical physics, population dynamics, econometrics and finance, and traffic engineering."
The award is worth 6 million kroner (920,000 dollars).
Varadhan, born 1940 in Chennai, has since 1963 worked at the Courant Institute of Mathematical Sciences, New York where is professor of mathematics and currently Frank J Gould Professor of Science. He is now a US citizen.
The Abel Prize was created in 2002 to commemorate the 200th centenary of the birth of Niels Henrik Abel. The Norwegian is acknowledged as one of the great names in mathematics although he died only aged 26.
Last year, Swedish mathematician Lennart Carleson won the award. Hungarian-born Peter D Lax, professor of mathematics at New York University, was the 2005 winner.
© 2007 DPA
