The Abel Prize

The Abel Prize, named after the brilliant Norwegian mathematician Niels Henrik Abel (1802-1829), is awarded every year and is announced in late March or early April. The prize amount is 6 million Norwegian Kroner ($900,000, or about 750,000 Euro) and was awarded for the first time on June 3 2003.

The Abel Prize is an international prize for outstanding scientific work in the field of mathematics, including mathematical aspects of computer science, mathematical physics, probability, numerical analysis and scientific computing, statistics, and also applications of mathematics in the sciences.

The prize is meant to recognize contributions of extraordinary depth and influence to the mathematical sciences. Such work may have resolved fundamental problems, created powerful new techniques, introduced unifying principles or opened up major new fields of research. The intent is to award prizes over the course of time in a broad range of fields within the mathematical sciences.

The prize is awarded by the Norwegian Academy of Science and Letters, which has appointed an Abel Committee consisting of five mathematicians to review the nominated candidates and submit a recommendation for a worthy Abel laureate.

The right to nominate is open to anyone. Nominations are confidential and a nomination should not be made known to the nominee. The prize can be awarded to a single person or shared for closely related fundamental contributions. The nomination letter should contain a CV and a description of the candidate’s works, together with names of specialists who may be contacted. The letter of nomination should be mailed to:

The Norwegian Academy of Science and Letters
Drammensveien 78
NO-0271 Oslo
Norway

The nomination letter should be postmarked no later than November 15th to be considered a nomination for the Abel Prize the following year.

Where does the money come from?

The Niels Henrik Abel Memorial Fund (Niels Henrik Abels minnefond) was established in 2002 by the Storting. The main object of establishing the Memorial Fund was to award an international prize for outstanding scientific work in the field of mathematics to contribute towards raising the status of mathematics in society and stimulating the interest of children and young people in mathematics.

The Niels Henrik Abel Memorial Fund is administered by the Norwegian Ministry of Education and Research. On its establishment the Fund had an initial capital of NOK 200 million. The annual return on this capital is allocated to the Norwegian Academy of Science and Letters which is responsible for the award to the Abel laureate, events in conjunction with the presentation of the prize and events targeting children and young people.

The Niels Henrik Abel Memorial Fund is not an independent institution and it is not a separate legal body. The previous year's return on the Fund's capital is entered each year as income in the government budget. The amount is transferred to the expense side of the government budget and allocated as a grant to the Norwegian Academy of Science and Letters. In the event that the Committee does not find a worthy laureate one year, it may resolve not to award the prize. In this case, the return on capital shall be added to the Fund's initial capital.

Who was Niels Henrik Abel (1802-1829) ?

The son of a vicar, Niels Henrik was born in Aust-Agder County and grew up at Gjerstad together with his elder brother, three younger brothers and a sister.

In the fall of 1815, when he was thirteen, Niels Henrik was sent away from home to the Cathedral School in Christiania (Oslo). Young Abel’s enthusiasm for mathematical research problems, amazed and impressed his teachers, but they were also uneasy about the single-mindedness of his interest and concentration. In those days, classical languages and refinement were still the ideal.

Niels Henrik went on to studying at the University in Christiania, where he only excelled in mathematics, his grades were no better than average. Even before he became a student, he had begun what would become his first great mathematical achievement: his work on fifth degree equations. For someone who went outside and above the usual profession-oriented studies of theology, medicine or law, the University didn't have a lot of resources. At that time, the University did not yet offer any degree in the natural sciences. Some professors even supported Abel economically in his research, because they recognized his abilities and knew he would have to go abroad to satisfy his needs. However, the lack of public funds forced Abel to remain at the University of Christiania for four years.

Finally, in 1823, he obtained a grant to go to Copenhagen, Denmark, and in 1824 he was promised a government grant for two years, together with a promise of a journey abroad for another two years.

He went to Berlin where he met August Leopold Crelle, who published the Crelle’s Journal (Journal für die reine und angewandte Mathematik) where Abel would publish most of the works that he managed to write. Largely thanks to Abel’s works, Crelle’s Journal quickly gained renown as one of Europe’s leading journals.

In 1826, Abel finally arrived in Paris, "the focal point of all of my mathematical hopes", and began the work that is called "The Paris Treatise". Scarcely any other mathematical treatise has garnered so much praise in posterity as Abel’s Paris treatise an addition theorem for elliptic integrals. The impressive thing about it is Abel’s monumental generality in his statement of the problem. In addition, his scenario was greater than that of his predecessors, he demonstrated mathematical relationships that no one had previously dreamed of, and he opened up areas of research in which new discoveries are still being made. Abel’s Paris treatise continues to stand out as a milestone in the history of mathematics.

His stay in Paris turned out to be a disappointment; he was unhappy, did not feel well, and had a fever and a cough. It was thought that Abel was suffering from tuberculosis - a death sentence at that time.

At the end of 1826, Abel left Paris, poor and weary, and returned to his friends in Berlin. He stayed on there a while, even though he was homesick, taking tutoring jobs and getting a private loan to support himself. When the Ministry of Finance refused to give Abel a grant, the Academic Collegium decided to support him. He didn't know it, but he didn't have a long time left to live. This last period of his life was extremely productive and he published a lot of treaties in the Crelle Journal.

In 1828, Abel was appointed temporarily as a senior lecturer and given a number of teaching jobs in Christiania. He tried to obtain a permanent post at the University, and then in Berlin, but did not succeed. He worked relentlessly on his works in the meantime, and his health grew worse and worse. At Christmas time in 1828, he went to see his fiance who lived near Arendal. This was a very long trip at the time, and being undertaken at a time of year with bad weather. He got there by sled, cold and coughing, and soon was bedridden. For weeks he was confined to bed, but he was nevertheless able to write one mathematical paper: two or three pages in which he again tried to formulate the main thoughts to his extensive Paris treatise.

But Abel was dying, and he cursed his God and the science of his day, which had been unable to overcome his illness. On April 6, 1829, Abel died at 26 years old, a mathematical prodigee and genius now lost to the world.

Fortunately, his works lived on after him as his legacy, and he is still remembered today in various ways: there's a monument made by the famous Gustav Vigeland erected on the so-called Abelhaugen, a knoll on the Palace Grounds.

One of the big buildings at the University of Oslo, where the Academy of Science and Letters is located, is called Abels house.

Abel has a lunar crater called the Abel crater, an honor bestowed upon many mathematicians...

There is a street in Paris called Rue Abel in the 12th arrondissement, it was officially named in 1912, is 260 meters long (284 yards) and 20 meters wide (22 yards). On the official Paris website where you can find information on all sorts of things and places in Paris (Extrait de la nomenclature officielle des voies de Paris), they have a quite bad misspelling of Niels Henrik Abel's name: "Orig. du nom. Nicolas Louis Abel (1802-1829), mathématicien norvégien." (Origin of the nomenclature: ...) At least they got the numbers right ;-)

And finally, the Abel Prize.

Laureates

2003: Jean-Pierre Serre, Collège de France, Paris, France.

"for playing a key role in shaping the modern form of many parts of mathematics, including topology, algebraic geometry and number theory".

2004: Sir Michael Francis Atiyah, University of Edinburgh and Isadore M. Singer, Massachusetts Institute of Technology

"for their discovery and proof of the index theorem, bringing together topology, geometry and analysis, and their outstanding role in building new bridges between mathematics and theoretical physics."

2005: Peter D. Lax, Courant Institute of Mathematical Sciences, New York University

"for his groundbreaking contributions to the theory and application of partial differential equations and to the computation of their solutions."

2006: Lennart Carleson, Royal Institute of Technology, Sweden

"for his profound and seminal contributions to harmonic analysis and the theory of smooth dynamical systems."

Related links:

The Legacy of Niels Henrik Abel : The Abel Bicentennial, Oslo 2002 (Hardcover). by Olav A. Laudal (Editor). This book contains a series of research papers on subjects related to the work of Niels Henrik Abel, written by some of the foremost specialists in their fields. The idea behind the book has been to produce a text covering a substantial part of the legacy of Abel, as perceived at the beginning of the 21st century. It is accompanied by a CD-ROM with a large amount of information related to Niels Henrik Abel, such as on the Abel Centennial in 1902 and the Abel Bicentennial Conference in 2002, the launching of the Abel Prize, Abel monuments, and stamps, banknotes, coins etc. issued in honour of Niels Henrik Abel.

Niels Henrik Abel and his Times (Hardcover). by Arild Stubhaug, Richard R. Daly (Translator). Read about the dramatic life of an outstanding mathematical genius: Niels Henrik Abel (1802-1829). Arild Stubhaug, who is both a historian and a mathematician, has written the definitive biography of Niels Henrik Abel. The Norwegian original edition was a sensational success, and Arild Stubhaug was awarded the most prestigious Norwegian literary prize (Brageprisen) in the category non-fiction. Everyone with an interest in the history of mathematics and science will enjoy reading this book on one of the most famous mathematicians of the 19th century.