It's interesting that the Field's medal award is quite a bit lower than the Nobel Prize's (~$15K vs ~$1mm) and is only awarded every four years, yet it still garners a lot of interest, speculation, and possibly envy from non-winners. Is there some kind of side-benefit to winning beyond the renown (which is probably a double-edged sword)?
Fields Medals 2022
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Re: Fields Medals 2022
#42Can anyone give a little insight into how some of these discoveries can have engineering applications? There are some abstracts, but has anyone looked at this and seen potential uses in computer science? I'm surprised there aren't more comments on this on Hacker News considering it's the Fields Medal.
> I'm surprised there aren't more comments on this on Hacker News considering it's the Fields Medal.
Many would argue that looking for engineering applications in mathematics is not why mathematicians do mathematics. That mathematics does sometimes have engineering applications is a mysterious and beautiful side effect. It isn't the motivation behind doing mathematics.
Re: Fields Medals 2022
#43I always found it weird how it was dominated by the french, with very few germans in between (only 2!). What are they doing differently? It's not that math is unpopular here, a lot of students are studying mathematics and every university has a math department. But they are absolutely dominating and I can't really explain it.
Re: Fields Medals 2022
#44It's interesting that the Field's medal award is quite a bit lower than the Nobel Prize's (~$15K vs ~$1mm) and is only awarded every four years, yet it still garners a lot of interest, speculation, and possibly envy from non-winners. Is there some kind of side-benefit to winning beyond the renown (which is probably a double-edged sword)?
Have to be under 40 too, so it isn't really an equivalent to the Nobel. Maths culture is weird though, long held belief that it is a young person's game.
Re: Fields Medals 2022
#45Earlier quoted context omitted.
I find this question distasteful, since it's asked with nothing more than a vague insinuation of Viazovska potentially not being "that good" as motivation. Here's the long citation: "A very long-standing problem in mathematics is to find the densest way to pack identical spheres in a given dimension. It has been known for some time that the hexagonal packing of circles is the densest packing in 2 dimensions, while in…
I agree that it is a distasteful question. But what is much more distasteful that it wouldn't be out of the realm of possibility for the answer to that question to be yes. Not that I am in any position to make that assessment.
So you admit you are in no position to make that assessment, but at the same time make the assessment that it is not out of the realm of possibility?
Maybe if in no position to make an assessment it is better not to make one?!
Re: Fields Medals 2022
#46I always found it weird how it was dominated by the french, with very few germans in between (only 2!). What are they doing differently? It's not that math is unpopular here, a lot of students are studying mathematics and every university has a math department. But they are absolutely dominating and I can't really explain it.
It is at least partially due to the education system: MPSI -> MP -> ENS Cachan / Lyon / Ulm. Very hard entrance exams to make sure they get the best students. Small promotion (IIRC around 40 students per year for ENS Ulm FIMFA) = homogeneous level.
Re: Fields Medals 2022
#47I always found it weird how it was dominated by the french, with very few germans in between (only 2!). What are they doing differently? It's not that math is unpopular here, a lot of students are studying mathematics and every university has a math department. But they are absolutely dominating and I can't really explain it.
France has an insane system of hyper-elite universities, the Grandes écoles (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Grande_%C3%A9cole). I have a friend who was in one, it's even crazier than it looks from the outside.
We have nothing comparable in Germany. If that's good or bad I don't know, but regarding super-elite competitions like the Fields-Medal I don't think there is another way.
Re: Fields Medals 2022
#48Earlier quoted context omitted.
I agree that it is a distasteful question. But what is much more distasteful that it wouldn't be out of the realm of possibility for the answer to that question to be yes. Not that I am in any position to make that assessment.
So you admit you are in no position to make that assessment, but at the same time make the assessment that it is not out of the realm of possibility? Maybe if in no position to make an assessment it is better not to make one?!
I'm not the person who made the statement. They asked the question. That's exactly the opposite of making an assessment. That person tries to find someone who CAN make that assessment to answer the question.
Re: Fields Medals 2022
#49One of the medallists went to (equivalent of) high school with me - seeing his name pop up was... a surprise.
Re: Fields Medals 2022
#50I know the Nobel Prize has had its share of upsets, but has anyone ever been deserving of a Fields Medal but been over the age of 40?
I do like that the Fields Medal goes to people nearer to the start of their careers than the end like the Nobel awards.
I would be curious about, say, the next five people that didn’t make the cut. Is it common that they still go on to get a Fields Medal?
Also I wonder if there was ever a joint result that led to both authors being awarded a Fields Medal. I can’t find one but strong collaborations are not uncommon, so…