The IMU Abacus Medal, known before 2022 as the Rolf Nevanlinna Prize, is awarded once every four years at the International Congress of Mathematicians, hosted by the

International Mathematical Union The International Mathematical Union (IMU) is an international non-governmental organization devoted to international cooperation in the field of mathematics across the world. It is a member of the International Science Council (ISC) and supports ...

(IMU), for outstanding contributions in Mathematical Aspects of Information Sciences including: #All mathematical aspects of

computer science Computer science is the study of computation, automation, and information. Computer science spans theoretical disciplines (such as algorithms, theory of computation, information theory, and automation) to practical disciplines (includi ...

, including

computational complexity theory In theoretical computer science and mathematics, computational complexity theory focuses on classifying computational problems according to their resource usage, and relating these classes to each other. A computational problem is a task solved ...

, logic of

programming language A programming language is a system of notation for writing computer programs. Most programming languages are text-based formal languages, but they may also be graphical. They are a kind of computer language. The description of a programming ...

s, analysis of algorithms,

cryptography Cryptography, or cryptology (from grc, , translit=kryptós "hidden, secret"; and ''graphein'', "to write", or ''-logia'', "study", respectively), is the practice and study of techniques for secure communication in the presence of adver ...

, computer vision,

pattern recognition Pattern recognition is the automated recognition of patterns and regularities in data. It has applications in statistical data analysis, signal processing, image analysis, information retrieval, bioinformatics, data compression, computer graphics ...

, information processing and modelling of intelligence. # Scientific computing and

numerical analysis Numerical analysis is the study of algorithms that use numerical approximation (as opposed to symbolic manipulations) for the problems of mathematical analysis (as distinguished from discrete mathematics). It is the study of numerical methods ...

. Computational aspects of

optimization Mathematical optimization (alternatively spelled ''optimisation'') or mathematical programming is the selection of a best element, with regard to some criterion, from some set of available alternatives. It is generally divided into two subfi ...

and

control theory Control theory is a field of mathematics that deals with the control of dynamical systems in engineered processes and machines. The objective is to develop a model or algorithm governing the application of system inputs to drive the system to a ...

. Computer algebra. The prize was established in 1981 by the Executive Committee of the

and named for the Finnish mathematician Rolf Nevanlinna. It consists of a gold medal and cash prize. The prize is targeted at younger theoretical computer scientists, and only those younger than 40 on January 1 of the award year are eligible. It is awarded along with other IMU prizes including the Fields Medal.

Naming

The prize was originally named to honour the Finnish mathematician Rolf Nevanlinna who had died a year before the prize's creation in 1981. The medal featured a profile of Nevanlinna, the text "Rolf Nevanlinna Prize", and very small characters "RH 83" on its obverse. RH refers to

Raimo Heino Raimo Heino (September 13, 1932 – November 30, 1995) was a Finnish designer of coins, relief figures and medallions. He was the designer of the Finnish 2 euro coin. All designs feature the 12 stars of the EU and the year of imprint on the front ...

, the medal's designer, and 83 to the year of first minting. On the reverse, two figures related to the

University of Helsinki The University of Helsinki ( fi, Helsingin yliopisto, sv, Helsingfors universitet, abbreviated UH) is a public research university located in Helsinki, Finland since 1829, but founded in the city of Turku (in Swedish ''Åbo'') in 1640 as the ...

, the prize sponsor, are engraved. The rim bears the name of the prizewinner. Alexander Soifer, president of the World Federation of National Mathematics Competitions, complained about the prize's honouring of Nevanlinna, as he was a supporter of Hitler and had acted as a representative for the

Finnish Volunteer Battalion of the Waffen-SS From 1941 to 1943, 1,408 Finns volunteered for service on the Eastern Front of World War II in the ''Waffen-SS'', in units of the SS Division Wiking. Most of these volunteers served as motorized infantry in the Finnish Volunteer Battalion ...

during World War II. Soifer discussed Nevanlinna's wartime activities in a 2015 book, and forwarded his personal and his organization’s requests to the Executive Committee of IMU to change the Prize's name. In July 2018, the 18th General Assembly of the IMU decided to remove the name of Rolf Nevanlinna from the prize. It was later announced that the prize would be named the IMU Abacus Medal.

Laureates

Notes

External links

IMU Abacus Medal
- Official site
Rolf Nevanlinna Prizes
– Official site Computer science awards Awards of the International Mathematical Union Awards established in 1981 Information theory International Congress of Mathematicians {{sci-award-stub

Naming

Laureates

See also

Notes

External links