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Fields Medals awarded

Posted by ryuzaki0 on from the hemos-medal-still-in-the-offing dept.

prostoalex writes "Every four years the Fields Medals are awarded to top mathematicians for outstanding research. This year's winners, as this San Francisco Chronicle article reports are Vladimir Voevodsky from Institute for Advanced Study and Laurent Lafforgue from Institut des Hautes Etudes Scientifiques. 'True to form, Lafforgue and Voevodsky's mathematical research has no known practical applications', notes SF Chronicle."

6 of 132 comments (clear)

  1. Useless ? by Lorens · · Score: 2, Insightful


    So maybe 100 years ago, factoring into primes had no practical use ? Certainly nothing like it has today...

  2. New maths never had practical applications by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 3, Insightful

    When negative numbers were introduced they were known as a mathematical curiosity not useful for anything.
    Similarly complex numbers were discovered simply to make basic algebra "closed", now they have hundreds of applications, similarly group theory originally had no practical applications yet is now used in many fields including analysis of molecular interactions which is essential to pharmecutical companies.
    Give it 20 years and I'm sure an application will arise.

    1. Re:New maths never had practical applications by notfancy · · Score: 2, Insightful

      Of those "pure mathematical" developments of twenty years (or forty years) ago, what has been used outside mathematics?

      Off the top of my head, I'd say lattice and group theory for designing error correcting codes. The Solomon-Reed ECC used in CDs and DVDs was designed from the structure of a special lattice.

      A lot of "useless" theories (much more "concrete" than topology, though: Collatz bases, Cylindrical Algebraic Decomposition and whatnot) ended up in Computer Algebra Systems in very "useful" tasks as factoring polynomials and solving equations.

      And, who knows, maybe the topological approach to Quantum Gravity does pan out in the end.

  3. Maths and practicallity... by MosesJones · · Score: 3, Insightful

    So sodding what if it doesn't have direct application today ? Would the SFC complain about yet another Dean Kootz book or another pointless film with Tom Cruise in it ? No they wouldn't, but because these guys are doing research and pushing the boundaries of human knowledge it is therefore pointless because of its lack of application.

    Maths has had a history of "not being practical" and then 50,100 or even more years later turning out to be 100% practical. Did Pythagorus et al do all that work because it was "practical", is set theory practical... oh hang on that is the basis of cryptography, which is an area that 200 years ago would have been totally "pure" and unsullied by being practical.

    I say let these men live in their Ivory Towers, let them postulate and theorise. Because first come the ideas, then come the realities. A Turing maching isn't "practical" it require infinite tape, but damn have those ideas kicked in. Game Theory was created by a John Nash because of its maths, it then changed economics BUT that wasn't why he started thinking about it.

    If one more arse with an English degree derides Maths just ask them... when was the last time an author helped changed the world, and what about the millions of others who just write pulp bestseller after pulp bestseller... what is the practical application of those, except to be recycled as loo roll.

    --
    An Eye for an Eye will make the whole world blind - Gandhi
  4. Not even just 'eventually' by DoctorNathaniel · · Score: 4, Insightful

    Pure research doesn't only pay off 'eventually'.. it pays off right now.

    First off, these fields aren't as dead as the SF article suggests: topology is a very big game right now with high-level particle theory. I don't pretend to understand it, but building 'topological field theories' is something people spend a good chunk of time trying to do. Although this research probably isn't directly applicable, it's neccessary to push a field generally before you get to something specifically good.

    (Of course, many would believe that theoretical particle physics has no application, either, and they wouldn't be entirely wrong.)

    Another point to make, though, and I can't stress this enough, is that pure research is valuable even if it leads to NO application, for several reasons:
    - It creates spin-off technologies. (In the case of mathematics, the 'technology' might be pretty abstract but still useful.)

    - It creates a vibrant research community, which is good for a vibrant teaching environment. (Debatable, but at least some people think so.)

    - It expands our knowledge of the universe /reality / human experience / art / imagination / etc.

    My favorite example: Even though Copernicus didn't really do anything for us but give us a few interplanetary probes, a useless moonshot of two, and slightly improved timetables, most people would be happy to know that the earth goes around the sun, not vice versa, not because it's USEFUL, but because it's TRUE.

    ---Nathaniel,
    Shooting his mouth off about his favorite topic.

  5. No practical applications by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1, Insightful

    So what practical application do the recipients of the Oscars, Emmys, or Grammys perform?