Jonathan Pila
Encyclopedia
Jonathan S. Pila is an Australia
n mathematician
at the University of Oxford
. He won the 2011 Clay Research Award
for his resolution of the André–Oort conjecture
in the case of products of modular curves. In June of 2011, he was awarded the Senior Whitehead Prize
by the London Mathematical Society
. This prize is "awarded in recognition of work in and influence on and service to mathematics; or lecturing gifts." Specifically, the citation recognized "his startling recent work on the Andre-Oort and Manin-Mumford conjectures. The approach he and his collaborators have developed, which combines analytic ideas with model theory
, is entirely new and shows great promise for further applications."
Pila earned his bachelor's degree at the University of Melbourne
in 1984. He then attained his doctorate from Stanford University
in 1988, under supervision of Peter Sarnak
. His dissertation was entitled "Frobenius Maps of Abelian Varieties and Finding Roots of Unity in Finite Fields". In 2010 he received an MA from Oxford.
In addition to the Clay and London Mathematical Society awards, he also received the Cahit Arf Lecture 2011 and the Leverhulme Trust Research Fellowship 2008-2010.
He has been the Editor of Proceedings of the Edinburgh Mathematical Society
, and of Algebra and Number Theory.
He has been repeatedly and recently published as coauthor in a number of important articles, and some of them are available on line here.
Australia
Australia , officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country in the Southern Hemisphere comprising the mainland of the Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous smaller islands in the Indian and Pacific Oceans. It is the world's sixth-largest country by total area...
n mathematician
Mathematician
A mathematician is a person whose primary area of study is the field of mathematics. Mathematicians are concerned with quantity, structure, space, and change....
at the University of Oxford
University of Oxford
The University of Oxford is a university located in Oxford, United Kingdom. It is the second-oldest surviving university in the world and the oldest in the English-speaking world. Although its exact date of foundation is unclear, there is evidence of teaching as far back as 1096...
. He won the 2011 Clay Research Award
Clay Research Award
The Clay Research Award is given annually by the Clay Mathematics Institute to mathematicians to recognize their achievement in mathematical research...
for his resolution of the André–Oort conjecture
André–Oort conjecture
The André–Oort conjecture is an open problem in number theory that generalises the Manin–Mumford conjecture. A prototypical version of the conjecture was stated by Yves André in 1989 and a more general version was conjectured by Frans Oort in 1995. The modern version is a natural generalisation...
in the case of products of modular curves. In June of 2011, he was awarded the Senior Whitehead Prize
Senior Whitehead Prize
The Senior Whitehead Prize of the London Mathematical Society is currently awarded in odd numbered years in memory of John Henry Constantine Whitehead, president of the LMS between 1953 and 1955. The Prize is awarded to mathematicians normally resident in the United Kingdom on 1 January of the...
by the London Mathematical Society
London Mathematical Society
-See also:* American Mathematical Society* Edinburgh Mathematical Society* European Mathematical Society* List of Mathematical Societies* Council for the Mathematical Sciences* BCS-FACS Specialist Group-External links:* * *...
. This prize is "awarded in recognition of work in and influence on and service to mathematics; or lecturing gifts." Specifically, the citation recognized "his startling recent work on the Andre-Oort and Manin-Mumford conjectures. The approach he and his collaborators have developed, which combines analytic ideas with model theory
Model theory
In mathematics, model theory is the study of mathematical structures using tools from mathematical logic....
, is entirely new and shows great promise for further applications."
Pila earned his bachelor's degree at the University of Melbourne
University of Melbourne
The University of Melbourne is a public university located in Melbourne, Victoria. Founded in 1853, it is the second oldest university in Australia and the oldest in Victoria...
in 1984. He then attained his doctorate from Stanford University
Stanford University
The Leland Stanford Junior University, commonly referred to as Stanford University or Stanford, is a private research university on an campus located near Palo Alto, California. It is situated in the northwestern Santa Clara Valley on the San Francisco Peninsula, approximately northwest of San...
in 1988, under supervision of Peter Sarnak
Peter Sarnak
Peter Clive Sarnak is a South African-born mathematician. He has been Eugene Higgins Professor of Mathematics at Princeton University since 2002, succeeding Andrew Wiles, and is an editor of the Annals of Mathematics...
. His dissertation was entitled "Frobenius Maps of Abelian Varieties and Finding Roots of Unity in Finite Fields". In 2010 he received an MA from Oxford.
In addition to the Clay and London Mathematical Society awards, he also received the Cahit Arf Lecture 2011 and the Leverhulme Trust Research Fellowship 2008-2010.
He has been the Editor of Proceedings of the Edinburgh Mathematical Society
Edinburgh Mathematical Society
The Edinburgh Mathematical Society is the leading mathematical society in Scotland.The Society was founded in 1883 by a group of Edinburgh schoolteachers and academics, on the initiative of A. Y. Fraser and A. J. G. Barclay, teachers at George Watson's College and Cargill Gilston Knott, who was the...
, and of Algebra and Number Theory.
He has been repeatedly and recently published as coauthor in a number of important articles, and some of them are available on line here.