The Abel Prize 2005 – often referred to as the 'Noble Prize' for mathematics – was presented to winner Peter D. Lax by Crown Prince Regent Haakon in Oslo on 24 May
26/05/2005 :: Awarded by the Norwegian Academy of Science and Letters the Abel Prize will be celebrated for several days and the winner, Mr Lax, will give lectures both in Oslo and in Bergen.
The award ceremony took place in the University Aula in Oslo with Queen Sonja present.
Lax's groundbraking contributions
Mr Lax was awarded the prize for his groundbreaking contributions to the theory and application of partial differential equations and to the computation of their solutions.
A professor at New York University, Mr Lax has received many honorary awards and prizes, and also holds a number of honorary doctoral degrees at universities all over the world. He was born in Hungary, but moved to the USA 15 years old.
Raising the status of maths
The Abel Prize is awarded for outstanding scientific work in the field of mathematics. The prize is intended to stimulate children’s and young people’s interest in mathematics and to raise the status of mathematics in society.
The prize, which amounts to NOK 6 million (about EUR 750 000), was awarded for the first time in 2003. It is named after Niels Henrik Abel, Norway’s most famous mathematician.
Norwegian Ministry of Foreign Affairs