Robert Langlands, who developed one of the most original insights of 20th-century mathematics, was named the winner of the 2018 Abel Prize at a ceremony in Norway this morning. The prize, which is modeled on the Nobel, is one of the highest honors in mathematics.
Langlands, 81, an emeritus professor at the Institute for Advanced Study in Princeton, New Jersey, is the progenitor of the “Langlands program,” which explores a deep connection between two pillars of modern mathematics: number theory, which studies arithmetic relationships between numbers, and analysis, which is an advanced form of calculus. The link has far-reaching consequences that mathematicians have used to answer centuries-old questions about the properties of prime numbers.
Langlands first articulated his vision for the program in 1967 — when he was 30 — in a letter to the famed mathematician André Weil. He opened the 17-page missive with a now-legendary stroke of modesty: “If you are willing to read it as pure speculation, I would appreciate that,” he wrote. “If not — I am sure you have a waste basket handy.”
Since then, generations of mathematicians have taken up and expanded upon his vision. The Langlands program now ranges over so many different fields that it is often referred to as the search for a “grand unified theory” of mathematics.