Yakov G. Sinai
Wolf Prize Laureate in Mathematics 1996/7
Yakov G. Sinai
Affiliation at the time of the award:
Princeton University, USA
Landau Institute of Theoretical Physics, Russia
Award citation:
“for his fundamental contributions to mathematically rigorous methods in statistical mechanics and the ergodic theory of dynamical systems and their applications in physics”.
Prize share:
Yakov G. Sinai
Joseph B. Keller
Professor Yakov G. Sinai brings to bear on the problems of mathematical physics the powerful tools of dynamical systems and probability theory, often developing new tools for this purpose. He is generally recognized as the world leader in the mathematics of statistical physics. Working in the tradition of the Kolmogorov school, he first formulated the rigorous definition of the invariant entropy for an arbitrary measure-preserving map. His subsequent work covers areas from the ergodicity of the motion of billiards to spectral properties of quasi-periodic Schrödinger operators. Statistical mechanics is one of the most active and rewarding areas of modern mathematics and Yakov Sinai is its recognized leader today.