James G. Arthur
Creating a vision of a unified mathematical world
The Ted Mossman Chair in Mathematics at the University of Toronto, Dr. James G. Arthur was awarded the prestigious 2015 Wolf Foundation Prize in Mathematics for “his monumental work on the trace formula and his fundamental contributions to the theory of automorphic representations of reductive groups.”
“Arthur’s work is a mathematical landmark that will inspire future generations of mathematicians,” the foundation says.
Dr. Arthur’s developments in automorphic forms and representation theory have opened new approaches to the challenges posed by a theoretical mathematical model developed some 30 years ago by Canadian mathematician Robert Langlands. The model, which seeks to link two branches of mathematics — analysis and algebra — has created a vision of a unified mathematical world in which independent mathematical disciplines will prove to be related. Dr. Arthur’s trace formula has become mathematicians’ most powerful tool in this quest, regarded by many as the most challenging frontier.
Dr. Arthur holds a bachelor of science and master’s of science from the University of Toronto and received his PhD from Yale University. He has been a professor at the University of Toronto since 1978. A fellow of the Royal Society, he was elected a foreign honorary member of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences in 2003. In 2012 he became a fellow of the American Mathematical Society.
Learn more about the Wolf Foundation Prize
* James G. Arthur is one of 24 Canadian winners of major international research awards in 2015 featured in the publication Canadian excellence, Global recognition: Celebrating recent Canadian winners of major international research awards.
