Vladimir Drinfeld

Vladimir Drinfeld

Vladimir Gershonovich Drinfeld (Russian: Влади́мир Гершо́нович Дри́нфельд, Ukrainian: Володимир Гершонович Дрінфельд; born February 4, 1954) is a Soviet-born mathematician currently working at the University of Chicago.

Drinfeld's work connected algebraic geometry over finite fields with number theory, especially the theory of automorphic forms, through the notions of elliptic module and the theory of the geometric Langlands correspondence. Drinfeld introduced the notion of a quantum group (independently discovered by Michio Jimbo at the same time) and made important contributions to mathematical physics, including the ADHM construction of instantons, algebraic formalism of the Quantum inverse scattering method, and the Drinfeld–Sokolov reduction in the theory of solitons. He was awarded the Fields Medal in 1990.