On August 13, the International Union of Mathematics announced at the International Mathematicians Conference held in Seoul, South Korea that Mirzahani and three other mathematicians won the Fields Medal. Mirzahani became the first female winner of the award and the first Iranian woman to receive this honor. This award is known as the “Nobel Prize in Mathematics.”
The award speech read: “Mirzahani has high attainments in mathematical skills and mathematical culture, as well as extraordinary technical ability and ambition, as well as vision and curiosity.” South Korean President Park Geun-hye said when awarding her: “I Congratulations to all the winners, especially Mirzahani. Her enthusiasm and drive made her the first woman to win this award.” Mirzahani said: “I hope this honor can inspire young female mathematicians and scientists. I believe that more women will receive similar awards in the next few years.”
Mirzahani was born in Tehran, the capital of Iran, in 1977. She dreamed of becoming a writer when she was a child, but later discovered that mathematics fascinated her even more. She said: “Solving math problems is very interesting, like guessing or connecting clues when solving crimes. I felt that this was what I was willing to do, and then I would follow this path.” In 1994 and 1995, Mirzahani She has won the gold medal in the International Mathematical Olympiad for high school students twice in a row, and she is known as the “Iranian genius girl”. She received her Ph.D. from Harvard University in the United States in 2004 and is currently a professor at Stanford University. Her main research field is irregular figure geometry, and she has proposed a variety of novel methods for calculating hyperbolic planes. Speaking of the award-winning feelings, Mirzahani said: “Women can do the same job as men. For women, it is very important to stay positive and confident.”
On July 15, Maryam Mirzakhani, the only female mathematician who won the Fields Medal in history and a professor at Stanford University, died of breast cancer at the age of 40. Dr. Mirzahani was born in Iran. In 2014, he won the Fields Medal, the highest honor in mathematics, in recognition of his outstanding contributions to the dynamics of Riemann surfaces and modular spaces.
In my opinion, a scholar like her who is indifferent to fame and fortune and devotes himself to studying a subject seems to be a clear stream, a lotus flower blooming in this dirty and ugly world full of material and desire. I can only look for people with a spiritual realm like her from ancient Chinese poems. There is an old Chinese saying called “Xiang you xin sheng”, which means that you can judge from a person’s face or appearance whether the person’s heart is complex or pure, kind or sinister. Every time I see her photos, I can feel that the light reflected in her eyes is so wise, profound and pure.
In middle school, Mirzahani won gold medals in the International Mathematical Olympiad in 1994 and 1995. She got a perfect score in 1995 and was the first Iranian student to get a perfect score in this competition.
In 1999, Mirzahani left his hometown of Tehran and went to Harvard University for postgraduate study. His mathematical interests include complex geometric figures and the movement of small balls on a flat surface.
Before entering Stanford University, Mirzahani was a researcher at the Clay Institute of Mathematics and taught at Princeton University.
In 2008, she was hired as a professor at Stanford University, her main research area is irregular figure geometry. Mirzahani’s research is biased towards theory, but other mathematicians believe that his work is bold and original and of great significance to the future. Her doctoral dissertation completed in 2004 solved two long-standing problems and was finally published in three important mathematics journals.
Fields Medal
Mirzahani is very interested in “geometry and dynamic complexity on curved surfaces”. These curved surfaces include spheres, amoeba forms, complex hyperbolic structures, saddle-shaped, donut-shaped, etc., and have multiple openings. At the same time, she also studies the motion dynamics of particles on the plane, such as the motion trajectories of several billiard balls on the table under different conditions.
These studies have a wide range of influences in the mathematics community, and may be applied to the fields of engineering, cryptography and theoretical physics in the future, even including the study of the origin of the universe.
When making mathematical arguments, Mirzahani often writes and calculates on large sheets of paper-her daughter calls it “painting”, which she compares to creating novels. In her own words: “Things have different characteristics, and you have to understand them better. Things will develop. When you look back at an attribute, it is completely different from your initial impression. “
When talking about the Fields Medal, Mirzahani once said that he has no special secret recipe, but he can get deep pleasure in exploring mathematical problems.
“It’s like getting lost in the jungle, exhausting all your energy and seeking new ways. If you’re lucky, you may be able to find a way out.”
“Mirza is an excellent colleague,” said Ralph Cohen, a professor of mathematics at Stanford University. “She embodies what a mathematician and scientist should be like: trying to solve problems that have not been solved before, understanding Those things that have not been understood before. This is driven by the deep academic curiosity in her heart, where there is great joy and satisfaction for every bit of success.”
In an interview with Mirzahani in the Guardian in 2014, she recalled her experience of embarking on the path of mathematics research. Mariam grew up in a family that is full of support and encouragement for her children’s dreams, and she thinks she has always lived and grown up in a good environment. Indeed, even during the relatively difficult years of Iran’s war against Iraq, her education and support have not been interrupted.
Before high school, Mariam never thought that she would embark on the road of studying mathematics, until “My brother aroused my interest in science. He used to tell me what he learned in school. I know mathematics The first memory may be when he told me the problem of adding 1 to 100. I think he read in the magazine how Gauss solves this problem. This solution deeply attracted me. This is the first time I have enjoyed the solution The question is beautiful, although I did not solve it myself.”
After finishing elementary school, Mariam went to a girls’ middle school in Tehran. She met a “strong-willed” female principal who was determined to create more opportunities for girls so that they could get the same education as in boys’ schools.” After that, I came into contact with Mathematical Olympiad, which made me think about some more difficult questions. As a teenager, I enjoy the challenge.” With the support of this principal, Mariam took the Mathematical Olympiad class with the boys in high school. At that time, he won two international Olympic gold medals.
After graduating from high school, Mariam entered Sharif University of Technology (Sharif University of Technology) and met many mathematics friends who could inspire and inspire her. As a result, she became more fascinated and fascinated by mathematics. After graduating from university in 1999, Mariam entered Harvard University for a doctorate. After graduating from her Ph.D., she worked as an assistant professor at the Cray Institute of Mathematics and Princeton University. In September 2008, she became a professor in the Department of Mathematics at Stanford University.
I am a man who dare not say that he likes math. Even though the math is good, I always feel inferior in front of the boys learning math. Mathematics is a very important subject. The significance of learning mathematics is self-evident. It is not only utilitarian. The learning process is difficult and fun. The sense of accomplishment of learning mathematics is far from being a substitute for “buy, buy, and buy.” “Everyone should give mathematics a chance”, especially girls, should face the distorted gender expectation and overcome it by studying mathematics hard.
Maryam gave me courage and motivation, and gave me the confidence to face my mathematics again. More importantly, she taught me how to calm down, be a serious scholar, and study a subject with great concentration. Seriously speaking, I was deeply shocked by the calmness of her face and her pure soul. I don’t know how many people will remember her in a few years, but I will be like a monument, standing in my heart and engraved in my mind.
