Professor Sir Martin Hairer KBE FRS

for transformative contributions to the theory of stochastic analysis, particularly the theory of regularity structures in stochastic partial differential equations

Can mathematics generate equations that accurately describe seemingly random motion – that is, how droplets of water spread across the surface of a napkin, the movement of milk stirred into a cup of tea, or the chaotic activity of millions of individuals making stock trades? Martin Hairer did just that, establishing “regularity structures” that model random effects on physical systems, and prompting colleagues to liken his work to the Lord of the Rings -- depicting ‘another world’ that anticipates random flux. “While the exact details of the fluctuation of the stock market and the movement of water atoms are very different, their probabilistic outcome is the same,” says Hairer. The author (at age 16) of the sound editing program, Amadeus, Hairer has pursued a lifelong fascination with probability theory.

Math is truth. Once you discover something in math, it applies to all eternity.