Sinai receives 2014 Abel Prize

Yakov Sinai, Professor of Mathematics at Princeton University since 1993, has been awarded the 2014 Abel Prize for his groundbreaking research in dynamical systems, ergodic theory and mathematical physics. A stipend of approximately USD $1,000,000 accompanies the prize, which is often referred to as the “Nobel Prize” of mathematics.

The Abel Prize is named after Niels Henrik Abel, a Norwegian mathematician of the early 19th century who laid the foundation for group theory. “Abelian groups” are named after Abel. The awarding of the Abel Prize to Sinai strikes close to home for one of the present bloggers (DHB), since ergodic

Continue reading Sinai receives 2014 Abel Prize

March 27th, 2014 | Category: News | Comments are closed

Gravitational waves confirm mathematical prediction of inflationary big bang

In a dramatic announcement on March 16, 2014, a team of astronomers led by John Kovac of the Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics said that they have detected gravitational waves, confirming predictions made by mathematical physicists Alan Guth, Andrei Linde and others in the 1970s and 1980s.

Gravitational waves from inflation, with their distinctive twisting pattern, in the polarization of the cosmic microwave background radiation.

MIT physicist/cosmologist Max Tegmark assessed the discovery in these terms: “I think that if this stays true, it will go down as one of the greatest discoveries in the history of science.”

Similarly, Marc Kamionkowski

Continue reading Gravitational waves confirm mathematical prediction of inflationary big bang

March 18th, 2014 | Category: Essays | Comments are closed

Is philosophy needed in mathematics and science?

Introduction

In a 2004 review in Science of Searle’s Mind a Brief Introduction, neuro-scientist Christof Koch wrote

Whether we scientists are inspired, bored, or infuriated by philosophy, all our theorizing and experimentation depends on particular philosophical background assumptions. This hidden influence is an acute embarrassment to many researchers, and it is therefore not often acknowledged. Such fundamental notions as reality, space, time, and causality–notions found at the core of the scientific enterprise–all rely on particular metaphysical assumptions about the world.

This may seem self-evident, and was regarded as important by Einstein, Bohr and the founders of quantum theory a century

Continue reading Is philosophy needed in mathematics and science?

March 13th, 2014 | Category: Essays | Comments are closed

Upcoming ICMS special session on random walks

A special session “Software, Design and Practice in Random Walks” has been scheduled for the upcoming Fourth international Congress on Mathematical Software (ICMS2014), to be held in Seoul, August 5-9, 2014.

This session will examine interactions between software use/design and random walk research, in a broad sense. More details, including abstract submission guidelines, can be found at ICMS website.

Plenary speakers for the conference include:

Jonathan Borwein (one of the present bloggers), University of Newcastle, Australia. Bruno Buchberger, Johannes Kepler University, Linz, Austria. Wolfram Decker, Technische Universitat Kaiserslautern, Germany. Andrew Sommese, University of Notre Dame, USA. Lloyd Trefethen,

Continue reading Upcoming ICMS special session on random walks

March 11th, 2014 | Category: Essays | Comments are closed