The 2016 Weyl Prize awarded to Vasily Pestun
The 2016 Hermann Weyl Prize has been awarded to Vasily Pestun of the Institut des Hautes Études Scientifiques (France) for his ground breaking results in the study of supersymmetric gauge theories, such as his ingenious computation of partition functions that led to the discovery of rich connections between four-dimensional and two-dimensional quantum field theories.
The Hermann Weyl Prize was established by the Standing Committee of the International Colloquium on Group Theoretical Methods in Physics (http://icgtmp.blogs.uva.es/) in 2002 and is awarded every two years to recognise young scientists who have performed original work of significant scientific quality in the area of understanding physics through symmetries (http://icgtmp.blogs.uva.es/weyl-prize/).
The Chair of the Selection Committee, Professor Edward Frenkel of University of California, Berkeley, said: “Vasily Pestun’s original contributions opened new opportunities for fruitful interaction between mathematics and quantum physics. It is quite fitting that his work be honoured by the prize named after Hermann Weyl, a pioneer in both of these fields who used to say that in his research he always tried to unite the true and the beautiful.”
The International Colloquium on Group Theoretical Methods in Physics was established in 1972 and nowadays takes place every two years. In 2016, it will be held in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, June 19-25 (http://www.cbpf.br/~group31/). The Colloquium will feature 12 Plenary Lectures (including one by Vasily Pestun) and 12 Parallel Sessions. The Award Ceremony for the Hermann Weyl Prize, as well as the Wigner Medal, will take place at the brand new Rio de Janeiro landmark, the beautiful science museum Museu do Amanhã.
According to the Chair of the Standing Committee of the International Colloquium, Professor Mariano del Olmo of the University of Valladolid, this is the first time in its 44-year history that the Colloquium is hosted in South America. He added: “We are very pleased to have the opportunity to bring a multi-national group of researchers working in this rapidly developing and exciting area to Rio de Janeiro, which is quickly becoming one of the centres of mathematical physics in South America. Dr. Pestun is an outstanding young scientist whose participation will undoubtedly contribute to the success of our meeting.”
