U of T prof wins 'Nobel Prize of mathematics'
· Toronto Sun
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A University of Toronto professor was among four mathematicians who have been awarded the prestigious Fields Medal , also known as the “Nobel Prize of mathematics.”
Jacob Tsimerman, 38, accepted his award at the International Congress of Mathematicians in Philadelphia on Thursday, alongside Chinese mathematicians Hong Wang, 35, and Yu Deng, 37, and American John Pardon, 37.
Tsimerman was given the prize for his role in proving the Andre-Oort conjecture, a major problem in arithmetic geometry that has stumped mathematicians for decades, U of T said .
“It’s an incredible honour to win this award – not just for me, but for all my collaborators without whom this truly would not be possible,” Tsimerman told the university.
“Math is such a team sport that it becomes impossible to disentangle who contributed what on projects. I’m lucky to have many of my collaborators as close friends, which helps work feel fun and playful.”
From math prodigy to prof
The U of T prof previously attended the university, earning his bachelor’s degree in mathematics in 2006, just two years after beginning his studies at 16.
He went on to attend Princeton University, where he earned his PhD in 2011.
At Princeton, the teen prodigy found the Andre-Oort conjecture while solving problems presented to him by his graduate mentor and adviser, mathematician Peter Sarnak.
Tsimerman then moved on to become a junior fellow in Harvard University’s Society of Fellows before joining the U of T Faculty of Arts and Science, becoming the youngest person to be named a full professor in the department of mathematics.
Puzzle kickstarted love of math
Tsimerman said his interest in mathematics began with a puzzle his physicist grandfather told him.
“It was a little puzzle about a toaster. If you have a toaster but it’s broken, so both slots only toast one side of the bread, and you have three pieces of bread that you want to fully toast both sides of, how many times must you use the toaster?” he said at the awards ceremony, per AFP .
He then recalled his feeling of wonder when he discovered the answer.
“I was like, ‘That’s beautiful,’ and I was basically hooked,” he said in a video shown at the ceremony.
The Fields Medal recognizes outstanding discoveries by researchers under the age of 40, and are awarded every four years by the International Mathematical Union to up to four mathematicians.
Tsimerman is the first mathematician based at a Canadian institution, and the second Canadian, to win the award.
Described as “the Nobel Prize of mathematics,” honourees receive $15,000 (US$17,000) and a gold medallion depicting Greek mathematician Archimedes. The monetary award is funded by a trust established by J.C. Fields at the University of Toronto.