The Abel (not Nobel) Prize - Numberphile

[00:00] Join me for a journey behind the scenes at the 2026 Arbell Prize. I'm heading to Oslo in Norway for this.

[00:12] For those unfamiliar with the Arbell Prize, it's been around for nearly 25 years and has carved out a niche as the kind of Nobel Prize of mathematics. We'll talk more about that later.

[00:24] And hang around because later you'll see how I sneakily steal something from the Prize winner himself.

[00:36] Now, I arrived in Oslo on a Monday night, meaning I missed the traditional re-thlaying ceremony at the statue of Neil's Henrik Arbell. He's the famed Norwegian mathematician after whom the prize is named, of course.

[00:50] And I did have time on Tuesday morning to go and pay my own respects. The wreath you can see was still there. I'm sure in the UK some Scallywag would have pinched that by now, but there you go.

[01:05] Blowing in the wind. Now, I don't know if you've heard of Arbell, but if you're a math person, you've probably heard the term Arbellian. That comes from Arbell, so his name's everywhere. Now, next it was off to this very fancy haul for the prize ceremony.

[01:21] These murals were painted by Edward Monk, another famous Norwegian. Now, the winner of the prize was no surprise. It had been announced a few months earlier, and it was the German Gerard Faltings.

[01:34] Our board has decided to award the Arbell Prize to Gacht Faltings. I won't go deep into his mathematics here. Suffice to say, he's a big deal in mathematics, and he cracks something

[01:46] called Mordell's conjecture. If I had a dollar for every time I heard the word Mordell during this week, I'd almost be able to afford a beer in Oslo. Now, there was lots of singing and music.

[02:10] Faltings by all accounts is a big music fan, so he probably quite enjoyed this. You're royal highness, Arbelloriate, ladies and gentlemen.

[02:25] And after a suitable amount of pomp and a very classily made intro video, the crown prince of Norway handed over the prize. Despite having a few issues with the trophy's orientation, Faltings then gave a really nice speech,

[02:40] he's quite a softly spoken and humble man, but I also found him quite funny. He's a dry wit. We then left the hole, and I couldn't help noticing the trophy was left up there on stage.

[02:56] I hope someone picks that up later. And next, everyone got properly overdressed, and we headed to the castle. More wine, of course, there was no shortage of that. And we all shook hands with this government minister and Faltings himself.

[03:10] Congratulations. It's a lot of handshakes, more music and speeches, and it was actually quite a fun evening. I met some really interesting people at my table.

[03:28] But then leaving the banquet hole, I couldn't help noticing Faltings had left his name tag on his table. He was gone, and rather than having it tossed in the bin, I decided to keep it as a souvenir. At least I can still that wreath, right?

[03:41] The next day, we were off to the university for lectures, Faltings himself and three experts giving more technical talks. I have to admit, as a non-mathematician, some were a little over my head, and this was definitely for the hardcore.

[03:54] But Faltings sat through them, and as his reward, he was thrown under the bus for yet another interview, this time with me. What part of the festivities that we've seen so far did you most like?

[04:07] And what do you least like if you would tell me as well about it all? At least like are the many interviews I have to give. And most like was the price of money was nice.

[04:21] Tell me about prizes. You've received a few, obviously. What role do they play in mathematics? Do you see the business important thing or trivial? How do you feel about prizes in general?

[04:33] Well, I mean, when I was young, I didn't think about prizes. And now I suddenly get them. And I thought, I mean, they seem to concentrate on a few people.

[04:48] And I decided the mechanism going on. I mean, the price giver gains in prestige if the price winner has prestige.

[05:03] And the price winner has prestige if the price giver has prestige. And so the price giver looks for people who have prestige. And they find them, they have to have gotten other prizes.

[05:18] And so it comes in sort of prices go to a few people. And there are many people who deserve some recognition who don't get it. So it's another fair system, but I'm profiting from it.

[05:33] The full interview can be found over at number two. See the links below. And I did show Professor Faltings his stolen name tag. And he autographed it for me. Another party, this time at the Norwegian Academy of Sciences,

[05:46] which essentially runs the prize on behalf of the government, Helga Holden chaired the committee which decided the winner. So I spoke to him too. Let me say a phrase to you, which I don't know if it's a band, phrase or not.

[05:58] The Nobel Prize of Mathematics. Yeah, this is a band. This is a band. I never use it. But other people do use it. And I don't mind if they use it.

[06:10] But I don't. You don't. The academy will never use that. I can understand why Alfred Nobel's died now. But do you think he missed a trick by not having mathematics? Oh, yes. He did a big mistake.

[06:22] A big mistake. Yes. I mean, this was an omission. I mean, all these stories about why there is no Nobel Prize of Mathematics. And I think the closest one is that he didn't see the practical importance of mathematics. Because the original plan for the Nobel Prize of Physics was to recognize the biggest discovery of the previous year.

[06:41] That does not make much sense these days at all. And the first year was given for practical inventions. And he couldn't see any practical use of mathematics. And of course, now we know that this is not true.

[06:54] And also we know that invention or discoveries in physics takes more than a year. So the plan was great, but he missed out something. I was speaking to Faltings today. Yes.

[07:06] And he was full of happiness and praise about his prize. But he did raise an interesting point. And I have read it elsewhere as well. That the mathematical prizes can become a bit of a circuit. And the same people.

[07:18] The same people win them. You know, if he won a field's medal, then you win this. Then you win that. And the same. And I wonder how you respond to that. Because it seems kind of inevitable. But I don't know how you get rid of this.

[07:30] This is an issue. And we discuss this in the committee. And we try to avoid making the circle smaller and smaller. And some people get all the prizes. Now, I mean, there are a few people who stand out.

[07:42] And they deserve almost all the prizes. And they will get them eventually. But we do make a serious search and look for names that have not necessarily been recognized. And who deserve it.

[07:54] So it is an issue. I think it's a very valid point. And has to be taken seriously. So when the committee sits and decides who the winner is going to be, it's not just a pure meritocracy.

[08:06] And OK, all the best mathematicians accept that one's got it. And you're like working down a list. To put it in very simple words, when I took over the championship, I didn't get a list from my predecessor with the list.

[08:19] And I just had to cross out the next four names on his list. That's not how it works. So we try to scan the mathematical landscape. And see if some people have been forgotten.

[08:31] Some areas have been forgotten. We look for nominations. And we collect letters of references, letter of recommendations from experts, real experts worldwide. Again, a full interview over at number 42.

[08:45] And by the way, I asked around and I found this. Faulting's prize was here in storage, presumably to be sent to him a bit later. Like this. Lovely box. I have to admit, it feels kind of plastic. I wish it had been like crystal or glass or something.

[08:59] Maybe some silver and gold bits on it. But there you go. With a cash prize of 7.5 million Norwegian crowns, I'm sure the laureates can afford to jazz it up later if they want. Having seen multiple Nobel Prize winners under these top people,

[09:13] is there anything you've noticed that you think, ah, that's why these best men and women have got something in common or something about them? Yeah, I have the privilege of having seen all of them since 2003.

[09:27] And I have to say they stand out in some way. It's hard to describe, but they really stand out from the crowd. I mean, they are very individualistic. They are very independent thinkers.

[09:40] They do what they think they want to do. Because they know they have been successful in doing that throughout their career. They have done things that people have said you nobody can do this and they have done it.

[09:52] So they stand out and overall they are extremely impressive from the professional point of view. When you look at other aspects, you know, I mean, they are more like regular people when it comes outside their special field.

[10:06] But in their special field, I mean, they are stars. That was it for me. Unfortunately, I couldn't attend some of the other events held in Arbel Week, including celebrations for younger students and teachers, but they all looked great.

[10:18] And maybe they'll invite me back next year. Or perhaps not when they find out about that stolen name tag.