Crafoord Prize in Mathematics and Astronomy 2008

Maxim Kontsevich

The Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences has decided to award the Crafoord Prize in Mathematics and Astronomy 2008 with one half* (mathematics) jointly to Maxim Kontsevich, Institut des Hautes Études Scientifiques (IHÉS), Bures-sur-Yvette, France, and Edward Witten, Institute for Advanced Study, Princeton, NJ, USA, “for their important contributions to mathematics inspired by modern theoretical physics".


Edward Witten

The laureates in mathematics, the mathematician Maxim Kontsevich and the theoretical physicist Edward Witten, have used the methodology of physics to develop a revolutionary new mathematics intended for the study of various types of geometrical objects. Their work is not only of great interest in the discipline of mathematics but may also find applications in totally different areas.

Its results are of considerable value for physics and research into the fundamental laws of nature. According to string theory, which is an ambitious attempt to formulate a theory for all the natural forces, the smallest particles of which the Universe is composed are vibrating strings. This theory predicts the existence of additional dimensions and requires very advanced mathematics. The laureates have resolved several important mathematical problems related to string theory and have in this way paved the way for its further development.

The Crafoord Prize for 'Mathematics and Astronomy' is awarded every third year. This annual prize is awarded on a rotational basis among three disciplines: 'Mathematics and Astronomy', 'Geosciences' and 'Biosciences'. The prize money is USD 500,000.

* Kontsevich and Witten are awarded one half. The other half (astronomy) is awarded to Rashid Alievich Sunyaev, Space Research Institute (IKI) of the Russian Academy of Sciences, Moscow, Russia and Max Planck Institute for Astrophysics, Garching, Germany, “for his decisive contributions to high-energy astrophysics and cosmology, in particular processes and dynamics around black holes and neutron stars and demonstration of the diagnostic power of structures in the background radiation".