The meeting will begin with the presentation of the 2002 Clay Research Award to Oded Schramm (for his work on the Loewner equation) and to Manindra Agrawal (for his work on primality testing). CMI President Arthur Jaffe and Directors Landon Clay and Lavinia Clay will give the awards. This Research Award recognizes major recent breakthroughs in two mathematical directions, and represents the pinnacle of recognition of research achievement by CMI. Each prizewinner will become a Clay Institute Prize Fellow, and will receive a bronze model of the CMI logo, an elegant sculpture "Figureight Knot Complement vii/ CMI" by sculptor Helaman Ferguson. Former winners are: Andrew Wiles, Laurent Lafforgue, Alain Connes, Stanislav Smirnov and Edward Witten.
Two talks will follow the awards ceremony. Manindra Agrawal of the Indian Institute of Technology surprised all experts in August 2002 by solving a hundred-year old problem (working with two undergraduate students). They showed that one could determine the primality of a number in polynomial time. This will be the first talk in the United States by the inventor of the new method. Vladimir Voevodsky from the Institute of Advanced Study will give the second talk. He will speak about the mathematical breakthroughs that led to his receiving the Fields Medal in August 2002.
"We have a very impressive set of ground-breaking mathematicians coming to this year's meeting as award winners and speakers. The meeting will certainly inspire young mathematicians who attend, as well as all those who read about it or view the meeting on the web," said Arthur Jaffe, President of the Clay Mathematics Institute. "Agrawal will discuss his exciting discovery - the ASK algorithm for primality testing, and Voevodsky will explain his novel approach to the mathematical modeling of shapes known as "motivic homotopy theory."
The meeting will take place at the American Academy of Arts & Sciences, 200 Beacon Street, Cambridge, Massachusetts. The Academy is conveniently located near Harvard Square on a secluded five-and-a-half acre wooded estate.
The video recording of the CMI Annual Meeting will be available in streaming video on the Institute's website (http://www.claymath.org) a week following the event. Questions can be directed to cmi@claymath.org, or by telephone at 617-868 8277.
About Clay Mathematics Institute
The Clay Mathematics Institute (CMI) is a private, non-profit foundation, dedicated to increasing and disseminating mathematical knowledge. CMI attempts to further the beauty, power and universality of mathematical thought through a series of programs including creation of new mathematical knowledge, dissemination of mathematical insight, inspiration of talented students, recognition of extraordinary mathematical achievement, and celebration of the solution of specific mathematical problems. To learn more about CMI, please visit www.claymath.org.