László Lovász and Avi Wigderson have been awarded the Abel Prize for their basic contributions to theoretical computing and discrete mathematics, and for their work in placing them at the centre of modern mathematics.
The Norwegian Academy of Sciences and Literature has stressed that László Lovász and Avi Wigderson were pioneers in the 1970s, when discrete mathematics would have a new and broad field of application in computing. Since then they have worked hard on researching the speed and efficiency of algorithms for computing. Today, algorithms and internet security are everyday issues, as the work of Lovász and Wigderson has been fundamental in this field.
László Lovász (1948, Budapest, Hungary), in addition to his work on the fundamentals of computer science, has developed powerful algorithms with a wide application. The best known is the LLL algorithm, with outstanding applications in number theory, cryptography and mobile computing.
Avi Wigderson (Haifa, Israle, 1956) is the person who has contributed the most to the theory of complexity. Complexity theory has to do with the efficiency and speed of algorithms, and Wigderson has studied the most important problems of this theory. This contribution has been fundamental, among others, for cryptography and cryptomonet technology.