Frenchman Michel Talagran wins the Abel Prize in mathematics

In his opinion, “mathematics gives wings.” Frenchman Michel Talagrand received the Abel Prize in Mathematics this Wednesday. The 72-year-old former director of research at the CNRS is known “for his revolutionary contributions to probability theory and functional analysis,” the Norwegian Academy of Sciences and Letters explained. Her work had “remarkable applications in mathematical physics and statistics,” she claimed.

Michel Talagran, who made his career at the Jussier Institute of Mathematics, is the fifth Frenchman to receive this prestigious prize since it was first awarded in 2003. “I would never have believed this was possible, it was an incredible experience,” he said. told AFP after being informed of his award. “French mathematics is doing well, we can be proud of that,” he emphasized.

In its statements, the Norwegian Academy highlights three of its contributions in areas with unclear names: supremum stochastic processes, dimensional concentration, and spin glass, which relates to the behavior of magnetic impurities in metal alloys.

“Outstanding Mathematician”

“Michel Talagrande has proven to be an exceptional mathematician combined with an outstanding problem solver,” Abel Prize Committee President Helge Holden commented in a press release. “He made major contributions to our understanding of stochastic processes, and in particular Gaussian processes. His work redefined several areas of probability theory,” he added.

The researcher devoted his life to functional analysis and probabilities, which he explored in his style – “the study of very simple things, understanding them absolutely thoroughly.” Michel Talagran chose mathematics “out of necessity.” He turned to this subject “naturally”, since his father was a mathematics graduate. Moreover, in other places he was “mediocre” and especially “poor at spelling.” A world with “arbitrary” rules, unlike mathematics, which he says has “an order in which we succeed if we feel for it.”

Michel Talagrande will succeed Argentine-American Luis Caffarelli, who received the Abel Prize last year for his contributions to the field of partial differential equations. Named after the Norwegian mathematician Niels Henrik Abel (1802-1829) and awarded 7.5 million kroner (about 647,000 euros), the prize will be officially presented on May 21 in Oslo. The prize was established in the early 2000s by the Norwegian government, among other things, to compensate for the lack of Nobel Prizes in mathematics.