Fields Medal 2010, Ngo, Villani, Lindenstrauss, Smirnov

[Dodovrosky]

Me sentía bien con esta noticia, yo estudio en la Universidad de Ginebra que en investigadores van bien, pero en enseñanza el balance general es: no es muy buena

[skycaptain141]

these guys are badasses i love mathematics

[mphello]

I just remembered something: the Fields medal isn't that AGE-IST crap requiring a mathematician be under 40, is it? That's some other award in math, right?

[mphello]

Is there an upper and lower bound on the number of Fields medals handed out each year?

What math results follows from these medalists' work that hadn't before?

(Again, through the internet: I am NOT being sarcastic. I ask a serious question.)

[felipalillo]

Call my attention how the superpowers catch brilliant minds from other countries ...despites the differences they have. Besides, I find quite sad that such brilliant minds easily take the bait from such superpowers... knowing that they can do a lot to improve the situation in their own countries... well even knowledge succumbs to money.

[aritropat]

its a disgrace to see the highest honour in mathematics being devalued like this. I am ashamed as an Indian that these brilliant men had to receive the medal from PRATIBHA PATIL ....its shameful to even see these petty politicians on stage when the best brains on the planet are getting such a big honour.

[mphello]

@aritropat I am totally ignorant about politics in that area. (Seriously. I am not being sarcastic.) Who is Pratibha Patil and what has he done and not done?

[thomasoeler]

ngo bao chau rocks!!!!!!!

[quillendaniel]

What does Schwarzenneger have to do with anything (he probably cannot even clear Euclidean geometry) with this.

This is a not a parade of clowns and simians; it is ceremony supposed to be august and sublime. We are honoring here the prophets among the billions on earth.

But this particular event was worse than kindergarden cop (which was more sublime and august in many respects) :)

[quillendaniel]

Yeah the French are still leading the way for civilization in many respects; while the Americans are of course busy fighting endless wars against native populations.

[sicmu1]

so, we are going to have french mathematician wining the medal for 12 years in a row!! not bad at all!! especially people coming from " l’Ecole Polytechnique " and " l’Ecole normale supérieure de la rue d'Ulm " for which i think are probably the best school in the world in there fields. Not bad for the frogs.

vive la france!!!!!!!!! 

[MrRomaysae]

Mathematicians love logic and proofs until they get to Physics. Then they love conjecture and the unreal. Wow! These guys protect the standards within their field and lowered the bar in ours. Mathematical Physicist destroyed Physics. Thanks for nothing! ED WITTEN.

[MrRomaysae]

Wow!

[ohtheplacesyoullgo29]

the french guy is so........french :P

[couldntbebetterful]

Việt Nam yeah yeah. That's my country. I'm so proud of Ngô Bảo Châu. As I know Vietnam is the second country of Asia, which got a famous person like him. I love him and of course I'm so proud of him. I love Vietnam!

[thiminhthao]

Vive le Vietnam

Vive la France

Vive la communauté asiatique

Vive l'humanité

Merci

[quillendaniel]

So yes I am concerned about the politicization of the award; for example "maybe next time we can have a women" or "next time maybe someone from Africa".

The Fields medal in my mind is sacrosanct and unlike the Nobel Prize (amazing no doubts) which is NOT ALWAYS about absolute intelligence (and pure mathematics ALWAYS IS)

Sorry to sound high minded, but this is "PURE" mathematics and it is almost a like a religion for some people.

[quillendaniel]

On another point, I think the composition of the Committee to select the medal winners is critical.

Might it not be better to have only actual Fields Medal winners on this committee?

When the committee list was read, I could only place Tim Gowers as actually having one a fields medal (if he is the only one than certainly I am concerned).

And for example Karen Uhlenbeck? I am sure she is a nice person but really when was the last time a women won the fields medal? : (Never!)

[Cagebreaker21]

The last guys suit made me laugh, There is something informal about this, I don't like it, mathematicians deserve so much more credit than the nobel prize winners

[quillendaniel]

@Cagebreaker21

I agree totally !

The Nobel Prize is NOT ALWAYS about absloute intelligence.....

The Fields Medal ALWAYS IS.......

And Science is a SUBSET of Pure Mathematics......this is a very important point!

[rosenberg011]

@quillendaniel I wouldnt be so quick to infer something like that.Even though Ngo deserved it by no means,there is a reason Grigori Perelman is upset with the mathematical community. To me the winners seem to be chosen by their nationality there are a couple who have made equal or greater contributions than Lindenstrauss. Including Christopher Hacon, and Ben Green.

[quillendaniel]

@rosenberg011

I reallydo hope this award doesnt get politicized; it is after all pure mathematics we are talking about.

I dont want to sound anti-women because I am not but no woman has so far won a Fields medal (an neither has any South Asian, a region from which I originate); pretty much you see the same thing in chess (if men and women are put head to head).

There is a remark attributed to Kasparov which I paraphrase in this context "The gaps are closing; but they are still there"

[rosenberg011]

@quillendaniel Yes I definitely understand where you are coming from. I didnt mean that I believe pure mathematics has been politicized, its just that this particular award choice seemed so. 

[quillendaniel]

@rosenberg011

To be honest I dont know enough to say whether this particular award was politicized; overall my sense that this award is still "ok" is pretty strong and I was trying to give some examples of categories that havent won to illustrate that.

[robertace57]

@zettavolt yep but he made his discovery in France. And he's considered like a french by professionnals.

[kunxu318]

proud to be Vietnamese ☺ 

[robertace57]

Ngo Bao Chau is French. He made is works in a French Institute with French experts.

[zettavolt]

@robertace57 He has both French and Vietnamese citizenship. The French citizenship just makes it easier for him to work in Europe and US. He is currently at Princeton US. He was born Vietnamese and left only after highschool. He held a professorship in Vietnam for a while. Vietnam is right to be proud of him.

[Luxsword29]

@zettavolt

He's both Vietnamese and French. So France is also proud of him. i think the man's comment about villani calling him "real french" was an awkard joke. Ngo has French nationality, so, regardless of how recent it is, he IS a real French.

[KatiushaVN4]

@Luxsword29

French my ass. He's Vietnamese citizen. Stop fooling around

[Luxsword29]

@KatiushaVN4

He chose to become French, which makes makes more "French" than many of us who just happened to be born with the nationality. I think it's cool that he's got 2 nationalities. It's a pity somepeople can't seem to bear this.

[yamaha562000]

@zettavolt He wasn't at Princeton, he is currently teaching at Chicago

[KatiushaVN4]

@robertace57

Are you trying to claim the credit which you never earn?? How pathetic low IQ French

[GreatViet]

Ngo Bao Chau - Vietnam Pride ^^

[LogicalFlawDetector]

@GreatViet

Stupid chink.

[GreatViet]

@LogicalFlawDetector And Ngo Bao Chau is Vietnamese, NOT chink ;) You cannot tell Vietnamese & chink apart, so the stupid one is you :) Yes !

[LogicalFlawDetector]

@GreatViet

You all look the same, Chinks! Hahaha! I thought you were going to defend both Chinese and Vietnamese people from my comment, calling me a racist at least once. You apparently only care about your chink-looking Vietnamese clowns.

[Cammie010]

lol..look at Smirnov when he is announced. He looks so lost and confused hahaha

[quillendaniel]

Plus next time the guy who reads the awards should have some charisma and know how to pronounce English words.

[PabloCecil]

@quillendaniel

This is balderdash! IMU stands for the International Mathematical Union not the English Speaking Mathematical Union. On top of that, none of this year winners are native English speakers.

[zettavolt]

@quillendaniel It's a mathematics conference, not the oscars :)

[quillendaniel]

@zettavolt

But this is not just any mathematics conference; this is a very special mathematics conference.

I strongly feel there is an amateurish quality about this conference as opposed to say the IMU meeting in 2006.

In a conference which you are trying to pick the "prophets" from among the mathematicians, surely more could be done.

Pure mathematics after all is about aesthetics more than anything else.

[lacerniagigante]

@zettavolt If Schwarzenneger's English is good enough, this is also good enough. (Next time we might have to speak Mandarin :-)

[greattunisia]

@quillendaniel I agree

[quillendaniel]

The news coverage for this event was nonexistent; look at the views so far 321!

The backdrop is horrendous and the marketing done by mathematicians to promote their cause shows no results.......horrendous , appalling......the greatest minds in existence and they are dragged through this trash ;make that 57 factorial bows .....next time they can hold the ICM in Angola.

[quillendaniel]

Yeah its like a farce; they have managed to introduce the choas and poor humor of the subcontinent into this great event (one must add that each of these mathematicians is an absolute genius no doubts); and the number of bows taken ; are we submitting to the caste system or ideals of individuality and freedom. It is in poor taste this ceremony; I much preferred John Ball and that setting.

[sommertagen]

I have found quite surprising the medal to Lindenstrauss

[yaelag1]

@sommertagen

Why??

[zettavolt]

@sommertagen It was unexpected but he has made good progress towards littlewood conjecture. I think it was a good call. The awards committee know what they are doing. Sometimes an outstanfing result in mathematics is not widely known until it gets a Fields Medal

[hackerdoroke]

Ngo Bao Chau, VietNamese's pride !!

Ngô Bảo Châu, niềm kiêu hãnh VIỆT NAM !!! =D

[neworder11111]

Compared to 2006 ceremony, this is very weak. In 2006, John Ball, who announced the winners, managed to convey the sense of dignity and seriousness, as if Mathematics herself spoke through his mouth. Here we have pointless comments about winners' nationalities, and, worst of all, "and the brief citation reads:..." - very poor roleplaying; and why is the guy smiling all the time?

[tagexing]

@neworder11111 congratulations to the winners! have to agree with you... compared to 2002 ceremony in beijing, this is also quite weak...