2024 Jones Medal: Solving problems that have baffled generations of mathematicians
Distinguished Professor Gaven Martin FRSNZ, of Te Kunenga ki Pūrehuroa Massey University, has been awarded the Jones Medal by the Royal Society Te Apārangi for his groundbreaking work in a broad range of fields including geometry, analysis, topology, and group theory.
Gaven is widely regarded as the best mathematician in New Zealand. and a leading researcher internationally. He has solved famous problems which have baffled generations of mathematicians, including the Liouville Problem (1850), Painleve Problem, Siegel Problem (1945), Hurwitz Problem, Hilbert-Smith Conjecture, and the Pucci Conjecture (1966).
In awarding this medal, the selection committee said Gaven’s contributions are at the cutting edge of mathematics.
A referee commented: “We quickly run out of superlatives to describe his work: its ambition, intellectual content, and broad impact on whole areas of mathematics. He demonstrates a remarkable level of detailed knowledge and brings insight from many areas of mathematics to bear on long-standing, hard problems. He has an unmatched attention to detail combined with a strong, sustained, and realised commitment to achieve high-quality theoretical outcomes.”
The Jones Medal is named after the late Professor Vaughan Jones, with whom Gaven founded the New Zealand Mathematical Research Institute in 1995. Gaven continues to chair the institute, which plays a major role in raising the international profile of New Zealand mathematics.
Gaven has also made significant contributions to future generations of mathematicians by advising on the maths curriculum and the teaching of mathematics in New Zealand schools.
Gaven was elected as a Fellow of the Society in 1997, and was awarded a James Cook Research Fellowship in 2001, and the Hector Medal in 2008. He has managed to win continuous investments from the Marsden Fund in competitive processes since its inception 30 years ago. In 2016 he was made a Foreign Member of the Finnish Academy of Science and Letters and in 2020 he was awarded a research prize from the international Alexander von Humboldt Foundation.
On receiving this medal, Gaven said: “I’m very pleased to have won this award, especially given the international stature of Vaughan Jones, for whom the award is named, and the incredibly strong mathematical scientists who have received it so far ‒ many of whom remain close friends and mentors. There are also those who will undoubtedly follow.
“Thanks are due to the universities where I have spent most of my career, Massey and The University of Auckland, along with the very many international funding agencies, but particularly the Marsden Fund, who have supported my research for decades.
“It has been (and remains!) a joy to be able to work with colleagues and students from all over the world, constantly learning new things about that most curious subject: mathematics.
“Finally, thanks to my wife (of 44 years!) Dianne, and girls Jennifer, Amy and (most recently, granddaughter) Scarlett, who make a life complete.”
Jones Medal:
The Jones Medal is awarded for lifetime achievement in pure or applied mathematics or statistics. It is named in memory of Professor Vaughan Jones.
Citation:
To Gaven Martin for his groundbreaking work resolving intergenerational mathematical problems and setting new directions both in geometry and analysis.