Manjul Bhargava, R. Brandon Fradd Professor of Mathematics at Princeton University, USA and member of the International Advisory Board of the International Centre for Theoretical Sciences – TIFR has been awarded the Infosys Prize 2012 for Mathematical Sciences for his extraordinarily original work in algebraic number theory which has revolutionized the way in which various fundamental arithmetic objects, such as number fields and elliptic curves, are understood.
Citation by the Infosys Prize Mathematical Sciences Jury
Professor Bhargava has made several highly original contributions to algebraic number theory. He has introduced brilliant new ideas which have turned a subject that had been largely stuck for 40 years, into one of the most active areas in number theory today. He has also proved a series of beautiful theorems that greatly enhance our understanding of number fields and algebraic curves, two of the most studied topics in number theory. In particular, he showed how to count quartic and quintic number fields, and proved that the average rank of elliptic curves over the rational numbers is less than 1.