Karen Uhlenbeck becomes first woman to receive prestigious Abel Prize for mathematics
She will be awarded the Abel Prize on May 21 in Oslo by His Majesty King Harald V.
(Web Desk) – Karen Keskulla Uhlenbeck – an American mathematician and a professor emeritus of mathematics at the University of Texas at Austin – has become the first woman to win the prestigious Abel Prize, for "her pioneering achievements in geometric partial differential equations, gauge theory and integrable systems, and for the fundamental impact of her work on analysis, geometry and mathematical physics."
Currently, she is a visiting associate at the Institute for Advanced Study and a visiting senior research scholar at Princeton University.
The prize, awarded by the Norwegian Academy of Science and Letters, was set up to address a gap in the Nobel Prize, which has no category for mathematics.
"The recognition of Uhlenbeck’s achievements should have been far greater, for her work has led to some of the most important advances in mathematics in the last 40 years," said Royal Society Fellow Jim Al-Khalili.
Uhlenbeck is one of the founders of the field of geometric analysis, a discipline that uses differential geometry to study the solutions to differential equations and vice versa. She has also contributed to topological quantum field theory and integrable systems.
"Karen Uhlenbeck receives the Abel Prize 2019 for her fundamental work in geometric analysis and gauge theory, which has dramatically changed the mathematical landscape," said Hans Munthe-Kaas, Chair of the Abel Committee.
"Her theories have revolutionised our understanding of minimal surfaces, such as those formed by soap bubbles, and more general minimisation problems in higher dimensions."
Gauge theory is the language of theoretical physics, and Uhlenbeck’s work has provided a foundation that is vital to particle physics, string theory and general relativity.
The news is notable because historically, most of the mathematics and science prizes have been awarded primarily to male recipients.
So far from the 904 individual Nobel laureates, only 51 have been women.
In fact, it wasn’t until 2014 that Maryam Mirzakhani was awarded the “The Fields Medal” for mathematics, out of the 52 winners up to that date.
The Abel Prize has been running since 2002, and is accompanied by a monetary reward of NOK 6 million (around US$704,000).
Uhlenbeck will be awarded the Abel Prize at a special ceremony on May 21, presented in Oslo by His Majesty King Harald V.
