Two French and American mathematicians received the Abel math prize 2008

The 2008 Abel Prize Ceremony was held on May 20 at Haral Palace in Oslo, Norway. The Norwegian king Harald V personally awarded this prize to the Belgian French mathematician Jacques Tits, 77, and American mathematician John Griggs Thompson, 75.

Norwegian King Harald V (middle) is congratulating the French mathematician Jacques Tits (right) after joining the American mathematician John Griggs Thompson (left) to receive the 2008 Abel Prize at Oslo University.(Photo: AFP)

According to the Norwegian Academy of Sciences, this is a noble award for "the great contributions of researchers in the field of algebra, especially in the formation of modern group theory".

Two mathematicians have come up with many new concepts when studying the relationship between reflection (réflexion) and rotation of a 20-sided geometric block. Their modern group theory helps explain the secrets behind the Rubik's block and is widely applied in the fields of physics, computer science and geometry.

The Abel Math Prize, funded by the Norwegian Mathematical Memorial Fund Niels Henrik Abel Memorial Fund, is a reward for groundbreaking and groundbreaking research in the field of mathematics. The Norwegian Academy is the place to announce and award the Abel Prize. The results were selected by the Abel Prize Council, through letters of recommendation from 5 prestigious mathematicians around the world.

The prize worth 6 million ron (equivalent to 756,000 EUR) was first awarded in 2003 to French mathematician Jean-Pierre Serre for his great contributions in topology and geometry. algebra and number theory.