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USING pictures to solve equations just earned someone $1 million.
Pierre Deligne of the Institute for Advanced Study in Princeton took home the 2013 Abel prize last week, awarded by the Norwegian Academy of Science and Letters, for playing a crucial role in linking algebraic geometry to other areas of mathematics.
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Deligne is best known for proving the last of the Weil conjectures, four statements concerning polynomial equations that were proposed in 1949. His proof, and much of his other work, provided new tools in algebraic geometry that are still yielding important results.
聯Deligne鈥檚 work provided tools in algebraic geometry that are still yielding important results聰
A day later, Alexander Polyakov, also of Princeton, netted $3 million for his contributions to quantum field theory and string theory. He was awarded the Fundamental Physics prize, launched by billionaire internet investor Yuri Milner, at a ceremony at CERN, near Geneva, Switzerland.
This article appeared in print under the headline 鈥淢aths millionaires鈥�