Maryna Viazovska is a Ukrainian mathematician who is known for her work in the field of sphere packing. In 2016, she made a breakthrough by proving the sphere packing problem in dimension 8, which had been an open problem for more than 60 years. Her proof showed that the E8 lattice is the densest packing of spheres in eight-dimensional Euclidean space. This work earned her several awards and accolades, including the 2017 Clay Research Award, which is one of the most prestigious prizes in mathematics. Viazovska is currently a professor at the École Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne in Switzerland.
The Fields Medal, the top mathematics award for the year 2022, has been awarded to Ukraine’s mathematics professor Maryna Viazovska. He solved the packing problem of spheres in 8 dimensions in 2016 and also solved it in 24 dimensions in collaboration with others. Previously this problem was solved only for three or fewer dimensions, Marina is the second woman to receive this award. The first female laureate was Maryam Mirzakhani of Iran.
Vyzovska received the Fields Medal in Helsinki along with three other mathematicians after the ceremony was moved from Saint Petersburg to the Finnish capital in response to the Battle of Moscow. The Fields Medal is called the Nobel Prize in Mathematics.
Other award winners-
- Hugo Duminil-Copin of France (36 years) Institut des Hautes Etudes Scientifiques
- US-based Jun Huh (39 years old) Princeton University
- Britain’s James Maynard (35 years old) Oxford University
The Fields Medal
The Fields Medal is the highest award for a mathematician. The Fields Medal is awarded every four years to one or more mathematicians under the age of 40. The Fields Medal award consists of a gold medallion (14 karat gold) bearing a profile of Archimedes and a cash amount. The Fields Medal and cash prize are funded by a trust established by Jensen Fields at the University of Toronto. The Fields Medal is awarded at the International Congress of the International Mathematical Union (IMU).
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The IMU is an international non-governmental and non-profit scientific organization. The purpose of the IMU is to promote international cooperation in the field of mathematics. The Fields Medal, named in honor of John Charles Fields (Canadian mathematician), was instituted in 1936. The first Fields Medal was awarded to Finnish mathematician Lars Ahlfors and American mathematician Jesse Douglas in 1936.
Its objective is to recognize and encourage young mathematical researchers who have made major contributions to the field of mathematics. Overall, sixty people have been awarded the Field’s Medal.
