[Todos CMAT] Premio Abel

[Dr. Roberto Markarian - IMERL]

THOMPSON AND TITS WIN 2008 ABEL PRIZE
John Griggs Thompson, Graduate Research Professor, University of
Florida, and Jacques Tits, Professor Emeritus, College de France, have
been awarded the 2008 Abel Prize "for their profound achievements in
algebra and in particular for shaping modern group theory." In the prize
citation, the Abel Committee writes that "Thompson revolutionized the
theory of finite groups by proving extraordinarily deep theorems that
laid the foundation for the complete classification of finite simple
groups, one of the greatest achievements of twentieth century
mathematics." In 1963, Thompson and Walter Feit proved that all
nonabelian finite simple groups were of even order, work for which they
both won the Frank Nelson Cole Prize in Algebra from the AMS in 1965.
Thompson also won a Fields Medal in 1970. In the Abel citation for Tits,
the committee writes that "Tits created a new and highly influential
vision of groups as geometric objects. He introduced what is now known
as a Tits building, which encodes in geometric terms the algebraic
structure of linear groups." The committee noted the link between the
two winners' work: "Tits's geometric approach was essential in the study
and realization of the sporadic groups, including the Monster." Tits
received the Grand Prix of the French Academy of Sciences in 1976, and
the Wolf Prize in Mathematics in 1993. The Abel Prize is awarded by the
Norwegian Academy of Science and Letters for outstanding scientific work
in the field of mathematics. The prize amount is 6,000,000 Norwegian
kroner (over US$1,000,000). Thompson and Tits will receive their prize
in a ceremony in Oslo on May 20, 2008. See more information about the
laureates, their work, and the prize on the Abel Prize website at
http://www.abelprisen.no/en/ .

Articles of related interest include: "What is a Building?" by Kenneth
Brown (Notices of the AMS, November 2002) at
http://www.ams.org/notices/200210/what-is.pdf, and  "What is The
Monster?" by Richard Borcherds (Notices of the AMS, October 2002) at
http://www.ams.org/notices/200209/what-is.pdf .


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