Robert Langlands

In an article for Nature, Ananyo Bhattacharya, science writer at the London Institute for Mathematical Sciences and biographer of John von Neumann, founding Professor (1933–55) in the School of Mathematics, lays out the significance of a "major advance" in research into the Langlands program—the "grand unified theory of mathematics" first laid out by Robert Langlands, Professor Emeritus in the School.

From May 19–24, the Institute welcomed 40 students, educators, and researchers from across the globe for its annual Women+ and Mathematics (W+AM) program. As well as providing a glimpse into the Langlands program, this year's lectures discussed examples and applications of Deligne-Lusztig theory.

"In 1940, André Weil [Faculty (1958–76) and Emeritus (1976–98) in the School of Mathematics] wrote a letter to his sister, Simone, outlining his vision for translating between three distinct areas of mathematics. Eighty years later, it still animates many of the most exciting developments in the field."

Akshay Venkatesh, Robert & Luisa Fernholz Professor in the School of Mathematics, and past Members David Ben-Zvi and Yiannis Sakellaridis have made significant progress "on a long-held dream within a sweeping research initiative in mathematics called the Langlands program."

Ingrid Daubechies, past Member in the School of Mathematics (1999), has won the 2023 Wolf Prize “for work in wavelet theory and applied harmonic analysis.” 

A new exhibition, available to view in the Institute's Mathematics – Natural Sciences Library and Shelby White and Leon Levy Archives Center, takes a critical look at the notion that mathematics is a single, true, "universal language". The displays probe what it takes to construct meaning in mathematical discourse, while highlighting groundbreaking work by IAS scholars such as Shiing-Shen Chern, Robert Langlands, and Edward Witten.