Abel Prize

Lennart Carleson

The world's most prestigious Mathematics prize has been awarded to a Swedish researcher for his work on wave patterns. Professor Lennart Carleson of the Royal Institute of Technology in Sweden was awarded the Abel Prize 'for his profound and seminal contributions to harmonic analysis and the theory of smooth dynamical systems,' as stated by the International Abel Committee. Everything from the vibration of violin strings to the spread of heat through a metal bar can be viewed as sums of simple wave patterns, oscillating sine and cosine waves. This led to the branch of mathematics known as harmonic analysis.

He also solved the so-called corona problem, which looks at structures that show up around a disc when the disc itself is hidden. An example might be the corona of the Sun seen during an eclipse, when it's hidden by the Moon. The prize, which is awarded by the Norwegian Academy of Science and Letters, is often described as the 'Nobel' prize for Mathematics.

The prize rules say it should aim to spur interest in mathematics among children and young people. So far, all winners of the prize have been in their 70s. Norway`s King Harald will present the $920,000 Abel Prize to Carleson during a May 23 ceremony in Oslo.