Hebrew U. prof. garners top math prize

A Hebrew University professor was one of four winners of a prize considered the Nobel of mathematics.

Hebrew University professor Elon Lindenstrauss won the International Mathematical Union’s Fields Medal for his work in numbers theory. Lindenstrauss was cited for his work in ergodic theory, the statistical study of dynamical systems, which formulate models relating time and space.

The IMU, holding its quadrennial International Congress of Mathematicians this week in Hyderabad, India, also awarded the medal to Ngô Bảo Châu of Université Paris-Sud in Orsay, France; Stanislav Smirnov of the University of Geneva, Switzerland; and Cedric Villani of the Henri Poincaré Institute in Paris.

The medal is named for Canadian mathematician J.C. Fields and carries a cash prize of about $15,000.