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Grigory Aleksandrovich Margulis

Erastus L. DeForest Emeritus Professor of Mathematics, Yale University; Fields Medal (1978), Wolf Prize (2005), Abel Prize (2020)
Yale University · New Haven, Connecticut, USA (Yale); born Moscow, USSR · academic
en.wikipedia.orgmathshistory.st-andrews.ac.ukfas.yale.edu
Fields Medal (1978) For The Arithmeticity Theorem And Superrigidity TheoremAbel Prize (2020), Shared With Hillel Furstenberg, For Pioneering Use Of Probability And Dynamics In Group Theory, Number Theory And CombinatoricsWolf Prize In Mathematics (2005); Among The Few To Hold Fields, Wolf And Abel PrizesRepresented The USSR At The 1962 International Mathematical Olympiad, Winning Silver At Age 16At Yale University Since 1991, Erastus L. DeForest Professor Of Mathematics

Grigory Margulis is a Russian-American mathematician, one of the most original and influential of the past half-century. He solved the Selberg-Piatetskii-Shapiro Conjecture (arithmeticity of higher-rank lattices), introduced the Margulis Superrigidity Theorem, solved the 1929 Oppenheim Conjecture, and constructed a famous family of expander graphs. Representing the USSR at the 1962 IMO at age 16 he took the silver medal. He holds the Fields Medal (1978), Wolf Prize (2005, shared with Sergei Novikov) and Abel Prize (2020, with Hillel Furstenberg) - among the very few mathematicians to win all three.

Grigory Aleksandrovich Margulis (born 24 February 1946, Moscow) is a Russian-American mathematician known for his work on lattices in Lie groups and for introducing methods from ergodic theory into diophantine approximation. He won the silver medal at the 1962 International Mathematical Olympiad representing the USSR at age 16, earned his PhD at Moscow State University in 1970 under Yakov Sinai, and proved the Arithmeticity and Superrigidity theorems that earned him the Fields Medal in 1978. He has been at Yale University since 1991, where he is the Erastus L. DeForest Professor of Mathematics.

Details
LocationNew Haven, Connecticut, USA (Yale); born Moscow, USSR
Company siteyale.edu
UniversityMoscow State University
MathematicsLie groupsErgodic theoryDiophantine approximationGeometric group theoryLattices in Lie groupsDiscrete subgroupsExpander graphsOppenheim conjecture
Notes
  • Won the Fields Medal in 1978 but, as a Jewish scholar in the Soviet Union, was barred from travelling to Helsinki to receive it; he was not permitted to attend the ceremony honouring him.1978
  • Joined Yale in 1991; only then, after emigrating, did he hold a university faculty position, having spent 1970-1986 at Moscow's Institute for Problems in Information Transmission as a research worker.1991
  • Represented the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics at the 1962 International Mathematical Olympiad at age 16, taking silver (rank 13, 36 points) - the IMO result that identifies the subject.1962
  • Cited by Abel Prize committee 'for pioneering the use of methods from probability and dynamics in group theory, number theory and combinatorics', sharing the 2020 prize with Hillel Furstenberg.2020
  • Solved the Selberg-Piatetskii-Shapiro Conjecture, proving higher-rank Lie-group lattices are arithmetic, and introduced the Margulis Superrigidity Theorem - the work behind the 1978 Fields Medal.1975
  • Solved the 1929 Oppenheim Conjecture and constructed a celebrated family of expander graphs, showing his influence ranged across diophantine approximation, dynamics and combinatorics.
  • Doctoral advisor was Yakov Sinai (himself an Abel laureate); his own students include Emmanuel Breuillard and Hee Oh, now a Yale professor - a direct academic lineage through the Moscow school.

Competition record

Union of Soviet Socialist Republics · IMO

1962 · Silver · Rank 13