Masaki Kashiwara received the award, often called the Nobel Prize in mathematics, for his work bringing together different areas of mathematics to solve complex problems.
Masaki Kashiwara, a Japanese mathematician, won this year's Abel Prize, which is considered the equivalent of the Nobel Prize in mathematics. In his highly abstract work, Dr. Kashiwara has combined algebra, geometry, and differential equations in a surprising way.
The Norwegian Academy of Science and Letters, which administers the Abel Prize, announced the event on Wednesday morning.
“First, he solved some open conjectures – difficult problems that existed,” said Helge Holden, chairman of the prize committee. “And second, he opened up new paths, connecting fields that were not previously known to be connected. That’s something that always surprises mathematicians.”
Mathematicians use connections between different areas of mathematics to solve complex problems, allowing them to transform those problems into concepts they better understand.
This has made Dr Kashiwara, 78, of Kyoto University, “a very important figure in many different areas of mathematics,” Dr Holden said.
But has Dr. Kashiwara's work found application in solving concrete, real-world problems?
“No, nothing,” Dr. Kashiwara said in an interview.
