| 1 | Name: | Dr. Robert P. Langlands | |
| Institution: | Institute for Advanced Study | ||
| Year Elected: | 2004 | ||
| Class: | 1. Mathematical and Physical Sciences | ||
| Subdivision: | 104. Mathematics | ||
| Residency: | Resident | ||
| Living? : | Living | ||
| Birth Date: | 1936 | ||
The "Langlands Philosophy" is widely recognized as the most far-reaching dream that mathematicians currently have for the future development of mathematics. For the past three centuries, the subject of modular forms has been a major strand of mathematics, treated by such great mathematicians as Euler and Gauss. But it had the character of a bag of tricks and special results. Then, in 1967, Dr. Langlands announced the "Langlands conjectures," which displayed for the first time the underlying patterns at work. In the 35 years since then, these conjectures have become increasingly important. Guided by them, an underlying unity has been found, with deep consequences for many branches of mathematics. These include number theory (where Langlands' work played a role in Wiles' proof of Fermat's conjecture), algebraic geometry (where 30 of the best young geometers work in what they call "geometric Langlands theory"), and representation theory (where the Langlands conjectures lead to a classification of the representations that come up in the study of quantum mechanics). Today, the Langlands conjectures provide the basic motivation and guidance for the work of many mathematicians working in diverse fields. Dr. Langlands has also written extensively on mathematical physics, and he has a strong interest in history. A graduate of Yale University (Ph.D., 1960), he has been a professor at the Institute for Advanced Study since 1972. He is currently Professor of Mathematics Emeritus. He is a member of the American Academy of Arts & Sciences, a foreign member of the Russian Academy of Sciences, and has been awarded the Lester R. Ford Prize from the Mathematical Association of America. In 2018 he was awarded the Abel Prize. | |||