Fields Medal

1986/12/01 Elhuyar Zientzia Iturria: Elhuyar aldizkaria

• Sariak

In 1936 it was awarded for the first time the Feilds medal, known as "Mathematical Novel". This award comes from the hand of Canadian mathematician John Charles Fields for the lack of presence of Alfred Nobel among his prestigious awards. Some say that the Swedish mathematician Mittag-Leffler left Nobel out of Mathematics to not get the prize, but it seems that this explanation is not very credible.

The Fields medal, besides scarce in money, has another big difference with Nobel: it is exclusive for mathematicians under forty, although this standard is not written. These awards are awarded by the International Congress of Mathematicians which meets from four to four years, initially twice and now in four. Among the winners are known names: Paul Cohen, Laurent Schwartz, René Tom, etc.

Last August it was held in Berkeley (USA). The congress, in which the last three medals have been distributed. The three were given to mathematicians working in Topology and Algebraic Geometry: Germanic Gerd Faltings has tasted Mordell's concert, bringing Fermat's last theorem closer; Simon K. Briton Donaldson and Michael H. The American Freedman has highlighted in the study of varieties of four dimensions, showing that the first exist exotic varieties and the second (among other things) demonstrating the concept of Poincaré in four dimensions.