Science News
French and US mathematicians share Abel Prize for mathematics
By DPA
Mar 27, 2008, 13:54 GMT

Oslo - French mathematician Jacques Tits and US mathematician John Griggs Thompson were Thursday named winners of the Abel Prize, sometimes known as the 'Nobel Prize for mathematics.'

The Norwegian Academy of Science and Letters cited their 'profound achievements in algebra and in particular for shaping modern group theory.'

Thompson, 75, of the University of Florida in the US, and Tits, 77, of College de France share the prize worth 6 million kroner (1.2 million dollars). It was first awarded 2003.

The Abel Prize was created in 2002 to commemorate the 200th anniversary of the birth of Niels Henrik Abel. The Norwegian is acknowledged as one of the great names in mathematics although he died only aged 26.

Group theory is the 'science of symmetries,' the academy said citing examples like 'the relation between reflections and rotations of a icosahedron, to reveal the secrets of (the) Rubik's cube.'

King Harald was scheduled to present the award at a ceremony in Oslo on May 20.

Former winners include Srinivasa S R Varadhan, Lennart Carleson, Peter D Lax, Sir Michael Francis Atiyah, Isadore M Singer and Jean- Pierre Serre.