Princeton Weekly Bulletin February 1, 1999
Stein wins Wolf Prize
Elias Stein, Albert Baldwin Dod Professor of Mathematics, is one of two winners of the 1999 Wolf Prize in mathematics. The prize recognized Stein for his "fundamental contributions" to developing methods for analyzing wave energies, such as light and sound.
The Wolf Foundation, an Israeli group that awards several prizes in the arts and sciences, also applauded Stein for his "exceptional impact on a new generation of analysts through his eloquent teaching and writing."
Princeton faculty have now won the Wolf Prize in mathematics for each of the last three years it was given. Andrew Wiles was a 1996 recipient and Yakov Sinai a 1997 recipent (the prize was not given in mathematics in 1998). Stein shared this year's prize with Laszlo Lovasz of Yale University.
Stein has spent much of his career studying and improving upon Fourier analysis. This method, invented by the 19th-century French mathematician J.B.J. Fourier, allows scientists to understand the harmonic content of wave forms. A physicist, for example, might use Fourier analysis to understand what mixture of wave frequencies, or colors, are present in a beam of light. Fourier analysis allows the display on some pieces of home stereo equipment to show what frequencies, or harmonics, are present in music as it plays.
Part of Stein's work has been to develop new methods and uses for harmonic analysis. The technique has grown beyond analysis of wave phenomena and is now a key tool for solving partial differential equations, the mathematical laws that govern most physical phenomena. The technique also has applications in fields as diverse as number theory and probability theory.
Born in Belgium, Stein received BA and PhD degrees from the University of Chicago, where he taught until coming to Princeton in 1963. A member of the National Academy of Sciences, he won the Schock Prize given by the Swedish Academy of Sciences in 1993.
The German-born diplomat Ricardo Wolf established the Wolf Prize in 1978. The prize, which includes a gift of $100,000, is awarded to outstanding scientists and artists "for achievement in the interest of mankind and friendly relations among people." Each year it is awarded in four out of five scientific fields, in rotation: agriculture, chemistry, math, medicine and physics. An annual Wolf prize also rotates among architecture, music, painting and sculpture.