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Yau and Sullivan Awarded 2010 Wolf Prize Yau and Sullivan Awarded 2010 Wolf Prize The 2010 Wolf Prize in Mathematics has been profound achieve- awarded to: ments of analysis on Shing-Tung Yau, Harvard University, “for his manifolds. He stud- work in geometric analysis that has had a profound ied minimal surfaces, and dramatic impact on many areas of geometry solving several classi- and physics” and cal problems, and then Dennis Sullivan, Stony Brook University and used his results to cre- City University of New York Graduate School and ate a novel approach University Center, Stony Brook, New York, “for his to geometric topology. innovative contributions to algebraic topology and Yau has been excep- conformal dynamics.” tionally productive The US$100,000 prize is divided equally between over several decades, the prizewinners. The prize was presented by the with results radiating president of the State of Israel in a ceremony at the into many areas of Knesset (parliament) in Jerusalem on May 13, 2010. Shing-Tung Yau pure and applied math- The list of previous recipients of the Wolf Prize in ematics and theoretical Mathematics is available on the website of the Wolf physics. In addition to Foundation, http://www.wolffund.org.il. his diverse and funda- mental mathematical Description of the Prizewinners’ Work achievements, which The following description of the work of Yau and have inspired genera- Sullivan was prepared by the Wolf Foundation. tions of mathemati- Shing-Tung Yau has linked partial differential cians, Yau has also equations, geometry, and mathematical physics in had an enormous a fundamentally new way, decisively shaping the impact worldwide on field of geometric analysis. He has developed new mathematical research analytical tools to solve several difficult nonlinear through his training partial differential equations, particularly those of an extraordinary of the Monge-Ampere type, critical to progress in number of graduate students and estab- Riemannian, Kähler, and algebraic geometry and Dennis Sullivan in algebraic topology, that radically transformed lishing several active these fields. The Calabi-Yau manifolds, as these mathematical research centers. are known, a particular class of Kähler manifolds, Dennis Sullivan has made fundamental con- have become a cornerstone of string theory aimed tributions in many areas, especially in algebraic at understanding how the action of physical forces topology and dynamical systems. His early work in a high-dimensional space might ultimately lead helped lay the foundations for the surgery theory to our four-dimensional world of space and time. approach to the classification of higher dimen- Yau's work on T-duality is an important ingredi- sional manifolds, most particularly providing a ent for mirror symmetry, a fundamental problem complete classification of simply connected mani- at the interface of string theory and algebraic and folds within a given homotopy type. He developed symplectic geometry. While settling the positive the notions of localization and completion in mass and energy conjectures in general relativity, homotopy theory and used this theory to prove he also created powerful analytical tools, which the Adams conjecture (also proved independently have broad applications in the investigation of the by Quillen). Sullivan and Quillen introduced the global geometry of space-time. rational homotopy type of space. Yau’s eigenvalue and heat kernel estimates on Sullivan showed that it can be computed using a Riemannian manifolds count among the most minimal model of an associated differential graded 748 NOTICES OF THE AMS VOLUME 57, NUMBER 6 algebra. Sullivan’s ideas have had far-reaching What’s Luck Got to influence and applications in algebraic topology. Do with It? One of Sullivan’s most important contributions The History, Mathematics, was to forge the new mathematical techniques and Psychology of the needed to rigorously establish the predictions of Gambler’s Illusion Feigenbaum’s renormalization as an explanation Joseph Mazur of the phenomenon of universality in dynami- cal systems. Sullivan’s “no wandering domains” “This is a fascinating book. It’s a theorem settled the classification of dynamics fresh, funny, philosophical look for iterated rational maps of the Riemann sphere, at gambling by a mathematician solving a sixty-year-old conjecture by Fatou and who knows what he’s talking Julia. His work generated a surge of activity by about, and who has quite obviously thought about introducing quasiconformal methods to the field gambling for a long time.” and establishing an inspiring dictionary between —Paul J. Nahin, author of rational maps and Kleinian groups of continuing An Imaginary Tale interest. His rigidity theorem for Kleinian groups Cloth $29.95 978-0-691-13890-9 has important applications in Teichmüller theory and for Thurston's geometrization program for 3-manifolds. His recent work on topological field theories and the formalism of string theory can be How Mathematicians viewed as a by-product of his quest for an ultimate Think understanding of the nature of space and how it Using Ambiguity, can be encoded in strange algebraic structures. Contradiction, and Paradox to Sullivan's work has been consistently innovative Create Mathematics and inspirational. Beyond the solution of difficult outstanding problems, his work has generated William Byers important and active areas of research pursued “This book is a radically new by many mathematicians. account of mathematical discourse and mathematical Biographical Sketches thinking. [P]rofound, Shing-Tung Yau was born in 1949 in Shantou, unpretentious, and courageous.” Guangdong Province, China. He received his Ph.D. —Reuben Hersh, Notices of in 1971 from the University of California Berkeley the AMS under the direction of Shiing-Shen Chern. He has Paper $24.95 978-0-691-14599-0 held positions at the Institute for Advanced Study, Princeton; the State University of New York at Stony Brook; and Stanford University. He has been Log-Gases and at Harvard since 1987. He received the Fields Medal in 1982 and the National Medal of Science in 1997; Random Matrices he was also awarded the Veblen Prize in 1981 and Peter J. Forrester the Crafoord Prize in 1994. “Encyclopedic in scope, this Dennis Sullivan was born in 1941 in Port Huron, book achieves an excellent Michigan. He received his Ph.D. in 1966 from balance between the theoretical Princeton University under the direction of William and physical approaches to the Browder. He has held positions at the Massachu- subject. The vast amount of setts Institute of Technology and the Institut des material and impeccable choice Hautes Études Scientifiques. His awards include of topics make it an invaluable the Veblen Prize in Geometry (1971), the Prix Élie reference.” Cartan of the French Academy of Sciences (1981), —Eduardo Dueñez, University of and the 1994 King Faisal International Prize for Texas, San Antonio Science; he received the National Medal of Science London Mathematical Society in 2004 and the AMS Steele Prize in 2006. Monographs, 34 Martin Bridson, Terry Lyons, and Peter Sarnak, Series Editors Cloth $99.50 978-0-691-12829-0 800.777.4726 press.princeton.edu JUNE/JULY 2010 NOTICES OF THE AMS 749.
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