Nina Holden is a Norwegian mathematician interested in

probability theory Probability theory is the branch of mathematics concerned with probability. Although there are several different probability interpretations, probability theory treats the concept in a rigorous mathematical manner by expressing it through a set o ...

and

stochastic process In probability theory and related fields, a stochastic () or random process is a mathematical object usually defined as a family of random variables. Stochastic processes are widely used as mathematical models of systems and phenomena that appea ...

es, including

graphon GraphOn GO-Global is a multi-user remote access application for Windows. Overview GO-Global allows multiple users to concurrently run Microsoft Windows applications installed on a Windows server or server farm from network-connected loc ...

s, random planar maps, the

Schramm–Loewner evolution In probability theory, the Schramm–Loewner evolution with parameter ''κ'', also known as stochastic Loewner evolution (SLE''κ''), is a family of random planar curves that have been proven to be the scaling limit of a variety of two-dimensiona ...

, and their applications to

quantum gravity Quantum gravity (QG) is a field of theoretical physics that seeks to describe gravity according to the principles of quantum mechanics; it deals with environments in which neither gravitational nor quantum effects can be ignored, such as in the vi ...

. She is a Junior Fellow at the Institute for Theoretical Studies at

ETH Zurich (colloquially) , former_name = eidgenössische polytechnische Schule , image = ETHZ.JPG , image_size = , established = , type = Public , budget = CHF 1.896 billion (2021) , rector = Günther Dissertori , president = Joël Mesot , ac ...

, and has accepted a position as an associate professor at the

Courant Institute of Mathematical Sciences The Courant Institute of Mathematical Sciences (commonly known as Courant or CIMS) is the mathematics research school of New York University (NYU), and is among the most prestigious mathematics schools and mathematical sciences research cente ...

New York University New York University (NYU) is a private research university in New York City. Chartered in 1831 by the New York State Legislature, NYU was founded by a group of New Yorkers led by then-Secretary of the Treasury Albert Gallatin. In 1832, the ...

beginning in 2021.

Education

As a student at

Berg Upper Secondary School Berg Upper Secondary School (Norwegian language, Norwegian: ''Berg videregående skole'') was an upper secondary school located in Oslo, Norway. The school was established in 1925 and provided education leading to the International Baccalaureate ( ...

Oslo Oslo ( , , or ; sma, Oslove) is the capital and most populous city of Norway. It constitutes both a county and a municipality. The municipality of Oslo had a population of in 2022, while the city's greater urban area had a population of ...

, Norway, Holden became the first woman to win the Abel competition, Norway's national Mathematical Olympiad. She competed in 2005 in the

International Mathematical Olympiad The International Mathematical Olympiad (IMO) is a mathematical olympiad for pre-university students, and is the oldest of the International Science Olympiads. The first IMO was held in Romania in 1959. It has since been held annually, except i ...

, where she earned an honorable mention with one of the two top scores on the Norwegian team. She became a student at the

University of Oslo The University of Oslo ( no, Universitetet i Oslo; la, Universitas Osloensis) is a public research university located in Oslo, Norway. It is the highest ranked and oldest university in Norway. It is consistently ranked among the top universit ...

in Norway, where she earned a bachelor's degree in mathematics and computational science in 2008 and a master's degree in applied mathematics in 2010. While a student in Oslo, she also visited the

University of Oxford , mottoeng = The Lord is my light , established = , endowment = £6.1 billion (including colleges) (2019) , budget = £2.145 billion (2019–20) , chancellor ...

from 2006 to 2007. After three years of work as an energy market analyst, she went to the

Massachusetts Institute of Technology The Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) is a private land-grant research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Established in 1861, MIT has played a key role in the development of modern technology and science, and is one of the ...

for graduate study, and completed her Ph.D. there in 2018. Her dissertation, ''Cardy embedding of random planar maps and a KPZ formula for mated trees'', was supervised by Scott Sheffield.

Recognition

In association with the 2021

Breakthrough Prize The Breakthrough Prizes are a set of international awards bestowed in three categories by the Breakthrough Prize Board in recognition of scientific advances. The awards are part of several "Breakthrough" initiatives founded and funded by Yuri Mi ...

s, Holden was awarded one of three 2021 Maryam Mirzakhani New Frontiers Prizes, for early-career achievements by a woman mathematician. The citation reads: "for work in random geometry, particularly on Liouville Quantum Gravity as a scaling limit of random triangulations." The particular work refers to her joint work with Xin Sun on the convergence of uniform triangulations under a conformal embedding. The other two winners of the prize were

Urmila Mahadev Urmila Mahadev is an American mathematician and theoretical computer scientist known for her work in quantum computing and quantum cryptography. Education and career Mahadev is originally from Los Angeles, where her parents are physicians. She b ...

and

Lisa Piccirillo Lisa Marie Piccirillo (born 1990 or 1991)''The Boston Globe'A math problem stumped experts for 50 years. This grad student from Maine solved it in days August 20, 2020; print title: "A Tough Knot to Crack," ''The Boston Globe Magazine'' (Augus ...

References

External links

Home page at ETH Zurich
* {{DEFAULTSORT:Holden, Nina Year of birth missing (living people) 1980s births Living people Norwegian mathematicians Women mathematicians University of Oslo alumni New York University faculty Probability theorists