The winner of the Abel Prize 2005, Peter D. Lax, was presented with the prize by Crown Prince Regent Haakon in Oslo on 24 May. The prize is often referred to as the “Noble Prize” for mathematics.
29/05/2005 :: The award ceremony took place in the University Aula in Oslo. The prize is awarded by the Norwegian Academy of Science and Letters, and this year’s winner, Peter D. Lax, was presented with the prize by Crown Prince Regent Haakon. Queen Sonja was also present at the ceremony. The award of the Abel Prize will be celebrated for several days, and the winner will give lectures both in Oslo and in Bergen.
Mr Lax was awarded the prize for his groundbreaking contributions to the theory and application of partial differential equations and to the computation of their solutions. He is a professor at New York University and has received many honorary awards and prizes. He also holds a number of honorary doctoral degrees at universities all over the world. Mr Lax was born in Hungary, but moved to the USA 15 years old.
The Abel Prize is awarded for outstanding scientific work in the field of mathematics. The prize is intended to stimulate children’s and young people’s interest in mathematics and to raise the status of mathematics in society. The prize, which amounts to NOK 6 million (about EUR 750 000), was awarded for the first time in 2003. It is named after Niels Henrik Abel, Norway’s most famous mathematician.
Norwegian Ministry of Foreign Affairs