20 years of the Nobel Prize in mathematics

On June 1, 2003, French mathematician Jean-Pierre Serre was awarded the first Abel Prize, "for playing a key role in shaping the modern form of many areas of mathematics, including topology, algebraic geometry, and number theory." Serre, who also won the Fields Medal in 1954, is considered one of the most prominent mathematicians of the twentieth century. The Abel is awarded each year to outstanding mathematicians, usually in the later stages of their careers. So far, 26 researchers have received the award, only one of them a woman – Karen Uhlenbeck, in 2019.

Both the Fields Medal and the Abel Prize were born in the face of a lack: that of the Nobel Prize, which left mathematics out of the disciplines with category. Much has been speculated about the reasons for this omission. A widespread and unfounded rumor speaks of Alfred Nobel's resentment of "mathematicians" due to a love spite—or infidelity, depending on the story—involving a mathematician—Gosta Mittag-Leffler, in most accounts.

The Argentine Luis Caffarelli wins the 'Nobel' of mathematics for illuminating what happens in a glass with ice

The truth is that there is no evidence for Nobel's reasons for excluding mathematics, but, in any case, mathematicians soon filled the gap. In 1932, Canadian mathematician John C. Fields created the medal that bears his name. Although this recognition, unlike the Nobel and Abel, seeks to enhance the career of researchers in the early stages of their careers: it is granted not only for "outstanding mathematical achievements" but also for "the promise of future achievements". Although, paradoxically, some people say that just the opposite is true.

The Abel took much longer to get going. Since the first proposal of the prize of the famous Norwegian mathematician Sophus Lie, various political issues delayed the effective creation of the prize 100 years. Before his death in 1899, Lie, after learning in 1887 of Nobel's plans for an annual prize, gained international support to create a fund to support the future Abel Prize in mathematics. However, many of these engagements were based on Lie's personal relationships and disappeared with his death. Years later, Oscar II, king of Sweden and Norway, took up the idea, but it faded again with the separation of these two countries.

In 1932, mathematician John C. Fields created the medal after him. Unlike the Nobel and the Abel, to enhance the career of researchers in their early stages, although, paradoxically, some say that just the opposite happens

Abel Prize.Calle Huth/Studio/Abel Prize

It was not until 2000, proclaimed the International Year of Mathematics – and which in Norway was illustrated with a logo of Niels Abel, the mathematician after whom the prize is named and who made crucial contributions in many areas of mathematics before dying at the age of 26 – that the prize was discussed again. Then, Abel's biographer, Arild Stubhaug, along with Norwegian academics, businessmen and politicians launched the project once again.

In 2002, coinciding with the bicentenary of Abel's birth, the prize began its journey and was awarded for the first time in 2003. Currently, the Abel Prize is funded by the Government of Norway and is endowed at NOK 7.5 million (€676,500). Anyone can nominate anyone but themselves for the award. The choice of the winning candidate is based on the recommendation of the Abel Prize Committee, composed of five internationally renowned mathematicians who vary each year – although the president is always Norwegian. Since 2003, two Spanish women have participated in this committee: María J. Esteban (Université Paris-Dauphine, France) and Marta Sanz Sole (University of Barcelona).

This year he won the Luis Caffarelli award, which became the first Latin American to receive the award, although he is part of a United States institution, as is the case of 17 of the winners. Four of them are affiliated to centres in France, two in the UK, two in Hungary and one in Sweden, one in Russia and one in Israel. No one from institutions in Asia – which has strong countries, mathematically, such as Japan, China or India – or Africa or Oceania has been awarded so far.

Ágata A. Timón García-Longoria is coordinator of the Mathematical Culture Unit of the ICMAT

Coffee and Theoremsis a section dedicated to mathematics and the environment in which they are created, coordinated by the Institute of Mathematical Sciences (ICMAT), in which researchers and members of the center describe the latest advances in this discipline, share meeting points between mathematics and other social and cultural expressions and remember those who marked its development and knew how to transform coffee into theorems. The name evokes the definition of the Hungarian mathematician Alfred Rényi: "A mathematician is a machine that transforms coffee into theorems."

Editing and coordination: Ágata A. Timón G Longoria (ICMAT).

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