A woman won the Nobel Prize in mathematics for the first time in her history | Chronic

Karen Keskulla Uhlenbeck, a 76-year-old American woman and champion of gender equality in science, became the first woman to win the Abel Award, considered the Nobel Prize for Mathematics and rewarded 17 years ago by L & # 39; Norwegian Academy of Sciences and Letters.

For the Academy, Uhlenbeck's work contributed "pioneering achievements" on geometric partial differential equations, gauge theory and integrable systems.

In addition, the five members of the jury – all internationally renowned mathematicians – felt that the "fundamental impact" that his work has done in the fields of badysis, geometry and mathematical physics, according to the decision unveiled Tuesday in Oslo.

Uhlenbeck, professor at the University of Austin, United States, is one of the founders of modern geometric badysis. For the Academy, his contributions to mathematics have made some of the progress "more spectacular" in the last 40 years.

"His theories have revolutionized our understanding of minimal surfaces, such as those formed by soap bubbles, and general problems of minimization in the higher dimensions"explained the chairman of the committee, Hans Munthe-Kaas, according to the EFE news agency.

The Academy considered that the techniques and methods of global badysis developed by Uhlenbeck integrate "the toolbox of each surveyor and badyst" and his work is also at the base of contemporary geometric models applied to mathematics and physics.

The jury pointed out that Uhlenbeck is "a model to emulate and a strong advocate of gender equality in the world of science and mathematics".