Portrait of Professor Peter Lax, the 20th century mathematical prodigy

Professor Peter Lax , a monument of 20th century mathematics with fundamental contributions to the application of computers in science and technology during the Cold War, from weapons development, aviation design to natural disaster prediction, passed away on May 16 at his home in Manhattan, USA, at the age of 99. According to his son, Dr. James D. Lax, the cause of his father's death was related to cardiovascular disease.

Professor Peter Lax, a monument of twentieth century mathematics.

Hungarian Math Prodigy

Mathematical prodigy Peter Lax was born in Budapest, Hungary in 1926, a land that has produced countless outstanding scientific talents. Peter Lax soon showed the qualities of a mathematical prodigy. Under the guidance of mathematician Rózsa Péter, the founder of recursion theory, the young Lax quickly connected with the famous Jewish-Hungarian mathematician community and demonstrated outstanding talent in national math competitions.

In 1941, at the age of 15, in the face of growing anti-Semitism in Hungary, then an ally of Nazi Germany, Peter Lax's family emigrated to the United States. The trip was made possible with the help of an American consul in Budapest. In New York, Peter quickly integrated into the immigrant community of mathematicians, including Richard Courant, who would later become his teacher and important mentor.

Just three years after arriving in the United States, in 1944, at the age of 18, Peter Lax was drafted into the Army. Fate brought the young man to one of the most important and secret scientific projects in history: the Manhattan Project at Los Alamos in 1945. There, he participated in calculating complex mathematical reactions, serving the development of the atomic bomb.

It was a "wonderful" and deeply influential experience for him to work in an excellent scientific team with different perspectives with the goal of not a theorem, but a product.

The first applied mathematician to receive the so-called "Nobel Prize in Mathematics"

After the war, Peter Lax received his doctorate from New York University and became a professor there. He was deeply involved with the Courant Institute for Mathematical Sciences, where he served as a researcher and later as Director (1972-1980). It was here that he became a strong promoter of the application of computers to applied mathematics and engineering.

He was the first applied mathematician to receive what is known as the "Nobel Prize in Mathematics".

In 2005, Professor Lax became the first applied mathematician to be awarded the Abel Prize, one of the most prestigious awards in mathematics, often referred to as the "Nobel Prize of Mathematics". The award recognizes his groundbreaking contributions to the theory and applications of partial differential equations and to the computation of their solutions. His major theoretical works such as the Lax Equivalence Principle, the Lax-Milgram Lemma, and the Lax-Phillips scattering theory (co-authored with Ralph Phillips) are still widely used in wave research, aerodynamic design, and weather forecasting.

When asked about the distinction between “pure” and “applied” mathematics, Professor Lax quoted mathematician Joe Keller: “Pure mathematics is a branch of applied mathematics.”

Computers not only speed up calculations, but also, more importantly, allow scientists to “use the whole theory” rather than having to “cut down” the problem to suit manual calculation methods, Lax asserts. The other half, however, is due to clever algorithms, and it takes mathematicians to invent clever algorithms.

Mathematician with a poetic soul

Not only stopping at academic research, Professor Lax also played an important role in establishing science and technology policy in the United States. He was President of the American Mathematical Association (1977-1980) and a member of the US National Science Council (1980-1986). In 1982, he was the author of the "Lax Report" - a key document that shaped the US research strategy with high-performance computers, which had a profound influence on both the civilian and military fields. Regarding this achievement, he once humorously paraphrased Emerson: "Nothing can resist the power of an idea ten years too late."

Throughout his life, Professor Lax was not only an outstanding mathematician but also an inspirational person and a devoted teacher. An interesting detail that few people know is Professor Lax's poetic side. He loved poetry, especially Hungarian and English poetry, and he himself wrote poetry in both languages. He even summarized a mathematical result in a haiku in 1999, showing the unique intersection between mathematical logic and poetic emotion in him.

In an interview, when asked about writing haiku, Professor Lax shared that "mathematical language is extremely concise, it's like haiku poetry". He tried to express a mathematical idea in haiku.

“Speed ​​depends on size

Balance by dispersion

Oh, the splendor of solitude"

Despite living through the turbulent and conflict-filled times of the 20th century, Professor Peter Lax demonstrated that science, and mathematics in particular, can be a powerful bridge between theory and practice, between abstract thinking and world- changing applications. He left behind not only equations and theorems bearing his name, but also an example of tireless dedication, a profound intellect and a rich soul. His legacy will continue to inspire generations of scientists, reminding them of the beauty, power and responsibility of knowledge.

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