The Department of Mathematics is thrilled to announce that Jacob Tsimerman has won the prestigious Fields Medal.
He becomes the first scholar based at a Canadian institution — and the second Canadian — to receive the award, often described as “the Nobel Prize of mathematics,” since it was established in 1932.
The Fields recognizes extraordinary research achievement and the promise of future discoveries. It’s awarded every four years by the International Mathematical Union to up to four mathematicians under the age of 40.
Tsimerman was honoured in part for his role in proving the André-Oort conjecture, a problem that has occupied mathematicians for decades.
“It’s an incredible honour to win this award — not just for me, but for all my collaborators without whom this truly would not be possible,” says Tsimerman, a U of T alumnus. “Math is such a team sport that it becomes impossible to disentangle who contributed what on projects. I'm lucky to have many of my collaborators as close friends, which helps work feel fun and playful.”
The André-Oort conjecture breakthrough
Tsimerman found the André-Oort conjecture — or his “mathematical home” as he describes it — during his PhD at Princeton University, where he was advised by number theorist Peter Sarnak.
At a high level, the conjecture concerns the appearance of highly special points inside geometric spaces that encode rich arithmetic information. Mathematicians suspected that whenever these special points appear in large numbers, they do so because they are part of a larger hidden geometric structure.
Tsimerman’s work was crucial in establishing the conjecture and confirming that intuition. The result is significant not only because it solved a long-standing problem, but because it opened entirely new directions of research.
“The Fields Medal recognizes Professor Tsimerman’s tremendous accomplishments and his stature as one of the world’s most promising leaders in mathematical research,” says U of T President Melanie Woodin.
“On behalf of the entire University of Toronto, I want to offer Jacob my heartfelt congratulations. This is a proud and historic moment for all of us.”
Tsimerman’s influence extends well beyond his research. He’s also incredibly popular among U of T students, according to a recent profile in Be Giant.
Professor Mary Pugh, chair of U of T’s department of mathematics, said Tsimerman’s passion for mathematics is evident to anyone who crosses his path.
“I’ve known Jacob as a student and a colleague and, obviously, he is brilliant,” she says. “His love of mathematics is absolutely infectious. He's someone who can be routinely found in the lounge at a blackboard puzzling over something with a handful of students, delighted to think together with them.”
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