The Norwegian Academy of Science and Letters awarded the Abel Prize, Norway's equivalent prize for Mathematics to NRI Srinivasa S.R.Varadhan for his research on the probability theory, particularly in the field of unified theory of large deviations.
The prize was presented to Professor Varadhan at a formal ceremony in
Oslo, by King Harald and Queen Sonja, which includes a cash award
for 6 million kroner (i.e. USD 9,20,000)
Hailing from Chennai, S.R.Varadhan has been working as a professor
of Mathematics at the CIMS Courant Institute
of Mathematical Sciences in New York.
The Abel Prize was set up in 2002 in honour of Niels Henrik Abel,
who left a mark in the field of mathematics before he died at the
age of 26.
Jean-Pierre Serre from College de France was the first Abel Laureate
in 2003.
Hungary's Peter D Lax and Sweden's Lennart Carleson won the award in 2005 and 2006 respectively.
The banquet in Professor Varadhan's honour was attended by the two distinguished guests later on Tuesday evening.
Indian mathematician Ramdorai Sujatha, winner of the Ramanujam Prize was also invited to attend the Abel event.
The Ramanujam Award is supported by the Norwegian Academy of Science
and Letters and the International Mathematical Union.
